Authors Note: I do not own Star Trek, save for my own OC. Anything else I am not making money on, and this is simply for shits and giggles. Enjoy!
A Whole Other Universe
I sat there, looking out my window into space. Today was the day. I was being swapped so to speak, even though our ship wasn't getting anyone from the ship I was being sent to. They told me it was for my protection, and to learn about another culture that is so different from my own. Truth be told, no one knew much about Vulcans. After first contact, they just kind of left. Communications have been shaky at best, and even that was a full blow Federation lie. The last contact between a human and a Vulcan was about 30 to 35 years ago when some high up ambassador got sick and a women, Amanda Grayson I think her name was, somehow healed him from near death. The two of them left shortly after, and the women wasn't heard from again.
That's the very reason why I'm so worried. I'm afraid that as soon as I leave sensor range, I'll never be heard from again. I know that leaving the man who saw me as his sister to his own devices, even with Bones on the watch, was never a good idea. So if I were to spontaneously disappear, I would say that the Federation would have one hell of a time trying to get him to not scent me out.
Sighing, I looked back towards my clock. Two hours to go till I would be completely uprooted from my home. It was only 6 AM, but I heard that Vulcans had a thing about being up early, so the exchange was scheduled for 8 AM. I still didn't sleep a wink last night and I doubted Jim fared much better. He and Bones most likely got shit-faced last night and are probably waking up with killer hangovers. I smirked. The threat of a massive hangover was half the reason I never got into drinking. The other half was that I hated the smell of alcohol. I snorted. My door chimed and I looked at the clock again. It was 7:06. Lovely, only 52 minutes left until my world would be turned upside-down.
"Come in." I croaked. Wow my voice sounded terrible.
Jim came sauntering into the room followed by a grumbling Bones. "Hey kiddo," I snorted, "How are you doing?" He asked.
"Oh ya know, just bloody peachy. I feel like a freaking lab rat being sent to these guys. I mean really? How much do we really know about Vulcans? All we have are unconfirmed theories. And this is for my own protection? Total bullshit." I hissed.
Bones stepped forward and sat next to me on my bed, wrapping his arm around my hunched shoulders. "Look here sugar, I know this don't seem fair. If anything it was downright wrong to pull you away from your home and force ya into space for 'protection'." His southern drawl and fatherly instincts were starting to kick in. "But ya need to appreciate the opportunity that has been dropped on your doorstep. Now ain't the time for second thoughts and regrets. Just go and show those Vulcans who Laura Margaret Talbot is. Alright?" He looked at me with all the pride of a father.
I ducked my head and pressed it up against his chest. "M'kay Bones. Whatever you say." I mumbled into his chest. I felt another hand settle on my shoulder, Jim. I made a small smile and took a deep breath. Bones, for some strange reason, didn't smell like the sterilized rooms of the hospital wing of the ship. He smelled like fresh air on a summer day with spices. My dad used to smell like that.
I felt tears pricking my eyes and stalled my thoughts about my now dead family. Both of them continued giving me their comfort. 'Now why in the hell did I agree to this again?' my thoughts snarked at me.
Pulling away from both embraces was difficult, but I managed. I looked up and finally noticed the tray of food that Bones must have set down while I was in my hunched in my misery. "I really don't think I could eat right now."
Bones scoffed, "You're going to eat, like it or not." He rumbled.
I just simply rolled my eyes and made a grab for the tray. As I pulled off the lid, I almost started to cry again. "Oh Bones." I choked out. On the tray, was a large bowel filled with my favorite comfort food that was the bane of Lenard's existence. Spaghetti O's.
"I know," he held up a hand to stop me from launching myself at him. "This is, as usual, against my better judgment. But I can let it slide for today." He gave me a warm smile, "Now sit down, shut up, and eat."
I didn't hesitate and dug in. Jim laughed. "Well I can see that someone is hungry around here." He continued to chuckle as I shot him my most ferocious glare; which probably wasn't due to a mouth full of Spaghetti O's. So I switched tactics and gave a low growl in warning. Jim just laughed harder until Bones decided to step in and smack him upside the head and flick my ear. "Ouch! Bones! What the hell was that for?" was simultaneous with my own muffled cry of pain.
"Jim, leave her the hell alone, ya hear me? And Laura, don't take to his juvenile bating. He's just being stupid. Which isn't out of the norm for him." He grumbled the last part to himself. "And Jim, be happy I gave you my hangover cure. If it weren't for me you'd be a more of a miserable heap of flesh than you usually are."
Jim looked up to Bones with his big baby blues. "I'm not a miserable heap of flesh Bones." He mumbled to himself.
I stood in front of my high officers in a briefing room. "We will be arriving at the location in 12.34 minutes. The human girl," I turned and looked at a screen with a picture and her information flashed by in Vulcan, "Is not used to beings like us. She is human and has only known emotion and illogical thought processes." He paused the holo-vids process of the human's information. "Her climate control in her room will have to be customized due to her home's climate. Her eating habits consist of three meals a day. She also needs seven to ten hours of sleep a night; therefore, no one is to disturb her while she is in her rest cycle." I turned back around and let my brown eyes level onto the eleven members of my high officers. "There will most likely be more that will need to be adjusted during her four year stay here." I paused on the 15.78% chance that there would be questions. There were none. "Dismissed."