Shannon Freese
September 21, 2013
Prologue
There is no way I want to move…there is absolutely no way I want to leave this bed. My body feels tingly all over, and I never want it to end. I have just had the best sex ever and I am laying on my man's chest, listening to his heart beat. There were little droplets of sweat beading up on his very well form pectoral muscle…I started kissing his chest, he noticed and looked down at me with his extremely blue eyes. He rolls me over and presses his lips against mine. Yep round two bring it on!
Chapter 1
I am standing on the track field right outside our academy. My feet are bounce and I am shaking my limbs trying to loosen them up. I am next and I am worried. There is a fear I might fail, and that means I will fail in front of my whole school watching me at Nationals Cross County, there is also that fear I will fail in front of the man whom I stayed up way to late having one of the best sex episodes ever. I look up and see him front and center, staring at me with his bright blue eyes. I continue bouncing and shaking my body hoping all the nerves will shake down my arms and out my fingers.
James is my love, and sadly I know my love is leaving me. We will be parting later today. You see after my race, James will be boarding the Star Ship Enterprise and leaving on a very long journey through space. While I stay at the academy and finish my last year in residency for Operations Management and a Minor in Weapons Production, my plan is to request my first assignment aboard his ship where we can reunite, and continue our night escapades.
His smile has been permanently burned in my mind. I don't think I will ever forget the way he looks in his uniform.
"Next up the 1600 meter dash…please make your way to the blocks" The speaker blared overhead.
"Oh god that's my race" I thought to myself.
"Let's go Smith! Whoo!" James shouted from the stands. I could see him standing and clapping his hands with such excitement in his eyes. Those eyes…I just can't get over those eyes.
"Focus, Smith focus" I say to myself. My legs involuntarily walk over to the blocks, they know exactly what to do, so I let them lead. The air seemed to calm it's self just as I step into the blocks for the race. All the other racers step into their blocks as well. My fingers are already placed at the line ready for the launch. Involuntarily I glace over my shoulder at the competition, two lanes down, I see a familiar face. She was dark skinned and very fast, but I have beaten her last two races we faced up against. The rest I have raced against in the past but I don't completely remember.
"Focus, Smith focus" I repeated to myself. I took too deep breathes…inhale….exhale…inhale….exhale I was slowly forcing myself to do.
"Runners take your mark!" The speakers came on again.
This time there was silence…not sure if it was the crowd or if I tuned them out. But it was so quiet I could drop a pin and hear everything.
BANG!
The gun shot and I was off. My breathing instantly took over and started the rhythmic pattern I am all too used to. Out out in in…he he whoo he he whoo…over and over again my breathing went. My arms were pumping and I was starting to get warm. He he whoo he he whoo he he whoo…left right left right….Keep going, keep breathing, pump my arms…go…go. My body was at a new pace I wasn't too familiar with. I knew if I didn't keep my pace I would lose all my strength at the end of the race. Without warning the 1st loop was complete. I glanced at the time…
"What?! No that can't be my time…" I thought to myself.
I kept up with the pace…my body started to ache the pain was starting to set in…shit! I tried not to panic, "breathe, focus on the breathing" I forced myself to think.
The bell rang again…this time I didn't look at the clock. I stared straight again looking at my lane.
"Wait…am I coming up on someone? Am I dreaming?" I thought to myself. He he whoo he he whoo…Again the final bell rang, I kept the rhythm of my breathing going. "Okay this is my last lap, I can do this…I am there…I am so hot…my heart was beating, it felt like it wanted to leap out of my chest. The only thing keeping my heart inside my body was my rib cage. My lungs were burning, the salty sweat was running down my face, stinging my eyes…I am coming to the end. I approach the last corner and run to the straight away. "GO!" I yell to myself. My legs respond and I am punching the rubber track as hard as I can. There's no sound from the crowd, which is odd…I would think I would be able to hear people. I run faster and fast, there's the finish I see the rope I am so close. I didn't dare look around to see who my competition is…run. That's all I am telling myself and run I did. Within seconds I crossed the finish line and instantly it was like someone had turned on the volume and my ears were blasted with sound.
My legs slowed and I turned to look at the timer…3:56.08. My eyes bulged, an instantly rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing things. Again I saw the time keeping counting and slowing move to the 4 minute marker. Someone had come up to me and draped a silver towel over my back, even though I knew it was paper thin I fell forward resting my hands on my knees.
"Oh my God Smith that was amazing!" I could hear James. He must have jumped the railing and run over to me. There was a small crowd of people gathering next to us all of them were friends from the Academy. But I couldn't look up. My breathing was becoming harder and harder. Something didn't feel right. I lost my balance and I stumbled, James caught me and yelled for help. My head was spinning and pounding. There were faces all around me and I couldn't make out any of them. The blue eyes were blurry, staring at me. I tried to say something but my words came out in a gibberish language. Freezing cold hands were touching my arms and my face. Something was blinking and buzzing just over my head, I was so confused at the happenings over me.
There were shouts, shoe scuffs all around me. James was saying something to me but I couldn't make it out. My head was pounding and my body was feeling like it was on the sun. I was burning up. I could hear the familiar beeping sound from James's comm. I knew he was trying to talk to someone, but it wasn't making any sense. I couldn't focus on anything, and then all of a sudden things became very blurry and dizzy. I couldn't stop shaking, I was convulsing uncontrollably. Shouts and then blackness surrounded my mind…
Chapter 2
I could tell that I was moved off the track that was one thing I was sure about. My back didn't feel the poky rubber track digging into it. My body was so exhausted I couldn't move. I wasn't even able to open my eyes. I was still hot, and I was still shaking, no more like shivering.
"Nurse put those ice packets under her armpits, between her thighs…" An older man said. Do I recognize that voice? I did but there is no way I could be…But then I heard James's voice.
"Doc…is she going to be okay? I didn't know what else to do…"
"Tell me what happened" The man cut into James words. "No put the Ice Visor on her size 4 not that one!" The Doctor yells.
My body was instantly cooling, and I was feeling slightly better with every second that passed…my breathing at least slowed down. Every inch of my body started to relax, I still felt hot, I was trying to listen to what James was saying but I couldn't focus, again my body instantly tensed up and I felt my body move uncontrollably in a convulsing manner…Bells and alarms were blaring. My arms were moving and trying to slap of the wires on my chest but to no avail.
"Doctor she's seizing again!" One of the female voices yelled.
The male voice boomed in my ears, I couldn't speak my jaw was clinched shut and I was trying to talk. "Shit, nurse hand me that syringe."
Hands were moving over my body and for a split second I opened my eyes and saw bright lights blinding me and then those bright blue eyes which I knew was James. There was so much concern in those eyes for only that second that I could see I knew there was something much more behind those eyes; Blackness took over my mind yet again.
Chapter 3
Exhausted, that's putting it mildly but that is how I felt. No near death if I even knew how that felt. Yes, that is how I felt, like death has laid next to me and was breathing in my ear "you're next".
There was a familiar beeping sound of the monitors around me. Slowly I moved my head to the side and peeked at my surroundings. I wasn't sure if I wanted to fully open my eyes or not. At least this time I didn't feel like my skin was on fire and my head wasn't pounding.
"Easy there, Lieutenant Smith." A female voice reassured me.
"Doctor, she's waking up" My eyes opened a bit wider and I tried to sit up but I was strapped down on the bed.
"Don't worry," she said to me "it was for your own safety" She's a Star Fleet nurse that was talking to me, I quickly gathered that I was in the infirmary at the academy…then I looked closer…this was not the same décor as the Academy…
"Good evening Lieutenant Smith, you had us all quite scared there for a few days." Doctor McCoy said. Wait Doctor McCoy?! He was the professor who taught one of the advanced Chemistry and Pharmaceuticals courses at the Academy until he took a sabbatical to join the Star Fleet for the Fleets new mission; Exploring space beyond the neutral lines. So many officers tried to get onto that very mission, James was lucky enough to get 1st Commander, basically he is the right hand man to the Captain onboard the ship. Should anything happen to the Captain he would be acting Captain. It's no surprise when he got the comm. call, his father was trained by the very Captain of the Enterprise, and I personally feel it was his way of protecting James when his father couldn't.
Shit, I am on this ship; the realization hit me like a bolt of lightning.
The nurse was still un-strapping my restraints and take a reading of my pulse. Doctor McCoy held a scanner above my head; red flashing light moved up and down my body taking a reading of my vitals. I desperately wanted to sit up but I was dizzy at the slightest movement. Slowly I turned my head and saw James in the corner. Silently he was watching the events, I wanted to call out to him but it seemed as though my tongue was caught, unable to form words at this partial moment.
"How are you feeling now Smith?" McCoy asked. I slowly moved my head and looked at him giving him a slight smile. "One of those days huh?" he smirked. "Smith, it seems to me…"
I wasn't listening to what he was saying about my vitals, I was staring at James. He was suddenly interrupted by a Petty Officer.
"Sir, the Captain needs you immediately on the bridge" The Petty Officer said.
And with that James was gone in an instant.
"Smith, did you hear me?" Dr. McCoy asked me again. I obviously didn't hear what he mentioned to me so I shook my head.
"I said the reason that you had seizures was because you're low on iron, vitamin B, electrolytes, and being pregnant raises a lot of other issues…."
My jaw fell….did I just hear him correctly? I thought to myself.
"I'm sorry…what did you say?" I softly and very slowly asked him.
Dr. McCoy looked at me and then he glanced back at the instrument he was holding. He poked at it a few times then sighed.
"Sorry Lt. Smith, looks like you wouldn't know for a few weeks, but with this," he said holding up the handheld, "This can tell me the day after conception."
My mind was racing at 100 mph, there is no way that I can be pregnant. I have to finish my thesis, I need to graduate, and I wanted to be accepted on the Enterprise and I just can't with a child…oh God does James know? This can't be happening. I thought to myself. Within the same thought my stomach lurched and I knew I was going to vomit. Dr. McCoy must have foreseen the same thing he was yelling for a nurse.
Within seconds I was laying back down. "Nurse," Dr. McCoy yelled, "hand me the Sapous Ointment"
The nurse ran across the sickbay and opened a cupboard and pulled out a small green tin and ran back to where I was laying with Dr. McCoy leaning over me. His hand reached out and to grab the tin. Once in hand, he opened it and put to small dabs under my nose. Instantly I was feeling relief. Dr. McCoy screwed the top back on tossed it back air and caught it.
"This little tin here was given to us when we went to the Nebula Galaxy." He said with a smile.
I smiled back and lay back on the bed. The young nurse was cleaning up the mess I had just made. I whispered sorry to her. She just patted my hand. My eyes closed again, preparing for much needed sleep.
Chapter 4
I was shaken away by the sudden halt of the Starship. The monitors have been removed from my body and also the restraints. In fact looking at the room closer, I wasn't in the sickbay anymore. Slowly the room came back into view, everything which I had left at home back on Earth was in fact here, in this very room…which is almost identical as the flat I was in back in the Academy. I feel like I am in some weird Déjà vu movie. I slowly got up; stretching my back and my neck, the ice pack was still attached to my neck. Not knowing if I should remove it or not, I just left it on.
Strangely I felt okay. My legs weren't sore, my back felt great, and I needed a shower. The layout of this room was slightly different but I was able to make my way back to the shower. Within minutes the warm water was freely flowing down my creamy white skin. I closed my eyes and relaxed.
"How do you like your room" James voiced interrupted my shower relaxation time. I took my time to respond, keeping my eyes closed.
"I was surprised to see my personal belongings here"
"Yeah, well, once you were onboard I instructed a couple of crew members to transport your flat up to the Enterprise and close all the loose ends on Earth," he paused, "You scared the hell out of me. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, thank you, can you hand me a towel?" I asked turning the water off.
"They are actually in there; you have to push the silver cube to open the door where the towels are." James calmly said.
Indeed there was a silver cube, basically a tile piece which was 12x12 a metallic shade in color, I pushed it in and it popped open reveling bright white towels.
"I need you to suit up; I need you on the bride as soon as possible. We have…." He paused, "encountered a slight issue."
"James you can't be serious! I am not even a crew member, technically I am a stow away."
"True, but we need your talent, and I have already informed the Captain about your credentials.
"What!?" I gasped, "You're kidding right?"
James looked right at me, and just smiled. Damn he knows I can't handle those eyes. But if I am going to be on this ship without any choice, there are rules, and I will need to keep my distance from him. I watch him as I dress myself in my uniform which was already hanging in the closet. I am wondering if he knows I am pregnant. But judging how calm and collective he is, I guessed that he does not know. This will be something I plan to keep to myself, until I figure out what I plan on doing. As for right now, I am needed.
"Let's hurry" James said, ushering me out of the room and down the corridors. He directed me to a series of lifts until we finally made it onto the bridge.
I froze just outside the lifts, the crew were all at their stations working and rattling off responses to the Captain who was barking orders. The room was bright white and the feel of the room was radiating stress. I looked around at everyone trying to remember the order of the crew from basic training. Until my eyes stopped on the main window viewer;
I was looking at the inside of another ship, a life form which I have never seen before was threatening another being on their ship. I froze, there was something much more intense happening then James lead on to me.
The aggressive male being began talking, then shouting in another language. He held a fazor to the head of the other feminine being.
"Someone translate what he is saying God Damn-it!" The Captain yelled.
"Aye, Sir" a young female in a red uniform responded. "Sir, I am using a combination…" she started to say.
"I don't care what the hell you do; tell me what he is saying!" He yelled at her. James had moved over to the women in red. He leaned over and started talking to her, I could only see her head nod.
"Sir, we have something" James stood up. "It seems like he wants the Life from that women's planet"
The male life form was still speaking and wildly gesturing his frustrations to the comm. He reached down and slapped the female and ripped off her necklace. And started yelling wildly again.
"Sulu, can you transmit her onto our ship?" The captain asked quietly.
"Aye Captain"
I watched the window view closer then noticed she had a something unusual strapped to her chest. But my view was taken from me as she was fading in multiple beams of lights transporting her onto our ship.
"James!" I yelled, "I think there is a bomb strapped to her!" I yelled running over to where he was standing.
"I know. Go to the transporter room now." He instructed. "Take her there" James said to one of the crew members who were closest to him. Within seconds I was escorted off the bridge and back into the lift. There was only a few seconds that I saw the Captain raise the alert alarm and yell "Raise Shields."
The Ensign and I ran through the corridors and into the transporter room. There I saw the same female sitting on the transporter floor. She was looking at her arms and touching them, obviously confirming they were still attached to her body. Transporting was defiantly a new experience to her.
Quickly I took in the situation, she was a slender female. Her head was bald and very smooth with very subtle markings of zebra like pattern on it. Around the corners of her eyes was a boney ridge which defined her eyes.
Around her chest was a small simple gray box, it was beeping and obviously counting down in another language. Once the female saw the box on her she started to panic.
I knelt down next to her and put my hands out trying to calm her down, "it's going to be okay" I tried my best to keep my voice very calm and reassuring.
Looking at the device I saw there was a panel on the back of the box, I wonder, I thought to myself. Quickly I turned around and saw James who had just run into the room along with Lt. Commander Spock. The engineer was behind the Transporter Desk, I yelled at him to get me an Explosion Glass, also a small 4x4 sheet of explosion glass, and a translator. James pointed to the man behind the desk and he took off running. My stomach started to lurch again, but I suppressed the twingey feeling.
"Lt. Smith," a voice interrupted my thoughts…I looked up and saw it was Lt. Colonel Spock. "Lt. Smith might I advice you that in your current state this may not be the most practical tactic for you to do." He said in a very matter of fact tone.
"Spock, not now, this isn't the time to counsel me." I jabbed at him.
James walked over and cut in before Spock could for a rebuttal to my response. "Spock can you translate to her, is there something you can say to calm her?"
I was looking at that panel and I knew what it was now that I could see closer.
"I need some tools…now!" I shouted at James. Both men didn't move but beside me a small case appeared next to me, clearly transported by the man who took James's spot behind the Transporter desk. A few seconds later I was incased in the Explosion glass, which again was transported over us.
As I dug in the case next to me I found the translator. It was a small disk about the size of a quarter. There were two rotating circles on it which had setting for all sorts of languages. I set mine for English and tried a couple of different languages while I placed it on my throat. As I kept adjust the dial I could see James and Spock outside the glass box I was incased in, frantically eyeing the box on the woman's chest. Finally after about the 6th language she nodded and said something in the same language.
"Yes you can understand me?" I asked again. She nodded. I reached in the case and brought out the second translator, adjusting the dials and placed it on her throat.
"Hurry! Hurry! This is counting down…we only have about a min!" She urgently told me. Okay, I figured that part out. James and Spock stopped dead in their tracks, they were watching me…okay I can do this. Again my stomach lurched, and this time the whole ship rocked roughly. Focus, Smith, I reached down and grabbed that small piece of explosion glass and placed it behind the box. I never took my eyes off the box as I reached over and grabbed a small knife. I slipped the blade side the back cover and slowly wiggled it off. Once it was off I just tossed it to the ground. Shit this is harder when it is attached to a body, I need to see what is in the back…I thought to myself.
"Please hurry" The woman pleaded with me.
"Calm down, I've done this once before." I told her. Her eyes darted to me.
"Only once?!" I could sense the fear in her eyes, it was practically radiating off her. I took a deep breath and placed my hand on her shoulder. And then I moved behind her and slowly lifted up the box, working over her head. I knew the red and black cable was on the top of this device, yes there it is! Once I found it I snipped it half. The box died in my hands and I wiped the sweat off my brow. I stretched my neck and took in a deep breath.
The explosion glass disappeared and we were once again exposed to the voiced which were outside the glass.
"Smith, thank god are you okay?" James asked. I nodded but I knew I wasn't out of the woods just yet. James thought we were and reached out to help me up. But I shook my head.
"Not yet, I need you to hold out your fazor and fire when I say to, are you ready?" I asked him. But James just stared at me with a sideways glace…dame the translator is on. I removed it and repeated what I said.
"What?" He asked.
"If you can't aim then get someone down here that can, I need you to fire when I say" I said again.
"No I am good, I can do this." He hesitantly said.
"Sir, may I suggest…" Spock started to interject.
"NO!" Both James and I said.
I put the Translator back on my throat. "Okay you have to hold very still, you might want to close your eyes." I calmly said. I held up my finger and counted from three down to one and snipped off the strap which was around the woman.
The ship jolted again, this time I fell on the strap I just snipped off and instantly the strap started to burst out these cords, they were shooting out so fast that it was almost impossible to know how many they were. Once shot through my arm, I screamed in pain, and then it started to wrap itself around my arm cutting off the circulation, others wrapped around my legs and waist. Cords were wrapping around the women as well, almost cocooning us in these living cords which were about 1 inch in diameter.
"NOW!" I ordered.
There was confusion in James's eyes but assurance in Spock's, as he reached out and started to fire at the cords. Once I was free I quickly hoped up and kicked the cords out of the way. I ran to James grabbed his fazor and shot at the cable on the women. Once she was free I kicked those out of the way and I ran over and took the explosion box which was now in the back of the room and placed that box over those cables.
"Nasty little buggers those are" I said to the women on the ground. She smiled and fainted.