Title: The Winds of Eternity
Author: Wildcat
Series: TOS
Codes: S & Uhura
Summary: Spock and Uhura experience odd side effects after a failed mission to aide two elderly survivors of a crashed and stranded spacecraft.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and company. I have just borrowed them for a while, and I will not profit from any of this.
A discussion with other TOS writers about the existence of 'real' canon, fan canon, and personal canon prompted me to think about the elements in TOS that seem so real to me yet have very little basis in anything that happened outside of my head. This story was written to illustrate an element in my personal canon, that is, the long and very close friendship between Spock and Uhura.
Note that this story is not set in the same universe as the other stories in my S/U series. It was written prior to those and long before the reboot of the TOS universe that turned my personal canon into reality.
Feedback is desired.
The Winds of Eternity, Chapter 1
The old man sat by his dying wife's bedside. He looked at her calm, pale face, still beautiful despite the deep wrinkles that furrowed her cheeks and brow, and he thought of the wonderful years they had been given. The children they so desired had never come, but they were happy simply to have had one another, and their childlessness was merely a disappointment, nothing more. Truly, they had been blessed in so many other ways.
She stirred, grimacing slightly with the effort it took to open her eyes and look at him. He reached for her hand.
"Hello, my wife. Be still, and I will bring you a sip of water."
She tightened her fingers on his hand before he could leave. Although he could have pulled away easily, he was nevertheless surprised at the amount of strength in her grip.
"I am not thirsty," she said. "Sit with me, and tell me again about the first time you saw me, and how lovely you thought I was."
The old man smiled. "I do not need to tell you again how I was nearly struck blind by your dazzling radiance. Just as I am now."
She returned the smile briefly. "You old flirt." The effort it took to banter with him was too great, however, and she could not maintain the lighthearted tone. She swallowed, and with worry in her voice, she said, "My husband, I do not want to face eternity without you. It frightens me."
He felt the sudden sting of tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away and smiled reassuringly. "Do not concern yourself, my wife. One way or another, we will be together forever. It will happen. Have I ever let you down?"
She was clearly not fooled by his brave front. "No, you have never let me down. We have been through much together, making a good life here after our accident. You have always made things right. This time, though, I am afraid that our fate is beyond your control. Do not lie to me. I am old and weak, but I know the truth."
He tightened his hand on hers. "We must have faith, my wife. It has always seen us through."
She held his eyes a moment longer, then sighed and drifted back off to sleep.
He brushed a tear from his cheek and sent a silent plea to the heavens. CreatorofallthatisHoly,helpus.Wehavebeenhereforsomanyyearsandnoonehaseverheardoursignal,butpleaseletsomeonehearitnow,beforeitistoolate.
He smoothed the hair from her forehead, placed her hand gently on her breast, and rose to check the old transmitter one more time.
...
As the Enterprise cruised smoothly among the stars, Uhura stretched and propped her chin on her hand, and from her seat at the back of the bridge swiveled her head and casually surveyed the crew. Everyone looked tired. She knew that she did, too.
The ship had to stop off briefly to deliver medical supplies to a remote Andorian outpost, and then they would be en route to Starbase 11 and a welcome shore leave on the lush tourist planet it orbited. They couldn't arrive a moment too soon, as far as she was concerned. Having just finished a grueling assignment that found them in the middle of a civil war on an Elarian colony planet, they had more than earned a break from their duties.
With a wry grin, she chastised herself. Lookatus.Twentyyearsago,wewouldhavewhippedthosecolonistsintoshape,takenonafewshiploadsofKlingons,dealtwithanalienentityortwo,andbeenaskingformore.Ohwell,Iguesswe'renotgettinganyyounger.
She glanced over at Spock, and she thought that even he looked like he could use a good rest. Everyone always assumed that the Vulcan was indestructible, coming back from the dead a few years ago no less, but she knew that their last mission had been harder on Spock than anyone.
The Elarians were telepathic and had refused to work closely with anyone who was not also a telepath. While there were other beings on board the ship that were able to assist, and she, herself, had been right in the middle of the negotiations, Spock had been left bearing the brunt of the Elarians' forceful psychic assaults. She had watched her friend's mental defenses stretch thinner and thinner, and he had been left visibly worn and fatigued.
As if he could read her mind, Kirk left his seat at the middle of the bridge and strolled over to his first officer. When he struck up a conversation, she couldn't help but overhear.
"Do you have any plans for shore leave?" he asked. "Chekov and Sulu invited us to join them for a few days of hiking in the woods, but I thought you might want to do something a little less strenuous. I understand that there's a beach there, as well as a few museums."
Spock raised an eyebrow and regarded Kirk skeptically. "It was my understanding that Dr. Marcus would be joining you."
"She always enjoys doing things with you. Hell, sometimes I think she likes you better than she does me. What do you say..."
Uhura didn't hear the remainder of the exchange, her attention suddenly caught by a flashing light on her board. She ran a quick scan and found the reason.
Pitching her voice for Kirk to hear, she said, "Captain, I'm picking up an automated distress signal. A repeating beacon requesting assistance."
Kirk strode over to her as Spock turned back to his console.
"Can you trace it?"
Uhura nodded, "It originates from the fourth planet in the star system directly ahead."
"Confirmed, Captain," said Spock. "Scans show no sign of civilization, but I do read two humanoid life signs."
"Commander, attempt to contact them. Inform them that help is on the way and that we should arrive in..." Kirk looked at his first officer.
"Eighteen point three minutes."
Kirk continued, "Approximately twenty minutes. Attempt to ascertain whether they need medical assistance."
"Yes, sir." She turned back to her board.
...
Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Uhura materialized in a small clearing near the two life signs. She had been unable to contact anyone, so their appearance was unannounced.
Tricorder in hand, Spock pointed to a ramshackle structure sitting back slightly in the woods. Upon closer inspection, they saw that it had originally been a small spacecraft, but additions had been built onto it so that it hardly resembled anything that had ever been spaceworthy.
Approaching it slowly, Kirk called out, "Hello! I am Captain Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise. Are you in need of assistance?"
They waited for a response. Just as it seemed that no one was going to answer, a small, elderly man stuck his head out of the entrance to the structure. His face lit up with incredulous joy.
"Praise the Creator! My prayers were answered! We have been stranded here for so many years, but our Protector has seen fit to send help in our time of need. Please come with me before it is too late."
McCoy glanced at Kirk, and then followed the old man into the wrecked ship. The rest of the landing party trailed behind, and they all crowded into the small area. When their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they saw a shrunken old woman lying in a makeshift bed, covered by a thin blanket. She looked up when she saw them.
"Oh, my husband, you were right." Tears gathered in her pale eyes. "They will help us."
McCoy had his scanner out. Running it over the frail body in the bed, he shook his head. "There's nothing I can do."
The old woman became agitated. "Come near, I can't see you. I can't reach you."
Uhura sat next to the bed and took the old woman's hand. "We're here. You're not alone."
The elderly man came to stand next to her bed. "It won't be long, now, my wife. We will be together in eternity, remember that." His thin legs trembled, and he could hardly stand. Spock stepped forward and held his elbow to support him.
With a beatific smile on her face, the old woman looked at her husband for a long moment, and then closed her eyes and took a last shuddering breath. Uhura felt a strange dizziness wash over her, but before it even had time to register, the old man turned to Spock, clutched the Vulcan's strong shoulders, and collapsed against him. Spock had to brace himself under the sudden dead weight, but he managed to gently ease the old man to the floor.
Kneeling by the elderly man's side, McCoy looked up at Kirk. "They're both dead, Jim."
Kirk frowned. "How could this have happened so quickly, Bones?"
"They were very old. I don't know how they hung on as long as they did."
Kirk pulled out his communicator. "Mr. Sulu, we found our two humanoids, but they both died almost immediately after we arrived. Send down an additional team. We have to find out who these people were and what they were doing here. There must be someone who would want to know about their deaths."
After receiving acknowledgment of his orders, Kirk flipped his communicator shut.
"Damn," he said. "This is the type of mystery I can do without."
...
Five hours later, Spock watched Kirk glumly give the order to leave orbit. The research team had been unable to learn anything about the origin of the old couple or their ship. It was obvious that the man and his wife had crashed on the planet many years ago, but where they had lived before, no one could tell. The captain had presided over a simple ceremony that interred them in the shady glen next to their makeshift home, and the landing parties had returned to the ship.
Spock crossed the bridge to stand at the captain's right as they watched the planet recede from their view. Uhura had left her station, as well, and stood to Kirk's left, her hand resting on the back of his chair.
Kirk sighed. "What a shame. There's no one in the universe who will mourn their passing."
Uhura glanced up and met Spock's eyes, and he frowned slightly, surprised to detect sorrow in her expression. She didn't look away from him as she responded to Kirk's comment.
"Oh, I don't agree, Captain. I grieve for them. It's incredible that after so many years together, the husband died at almost the same instant as his wife. He simply couldn't go on. I get choked up even now thinking of it. It's almost as if I feel that I knew them. Illogical, I know."
Spock held her eyes. "It is not illogical to regret the ending of a devoted union. Indeed, I find myself most unsettled by the event, as well."
She gave him a grateful little smile, and he found himself strangely pleased that he was able to reassure her with such a simple admission. He nodded, and they both turned back to the viewscreen in time to see the small planet vanish entirely.
End chapter 1