This story is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. Listen, I'm not as good a writer as TomFoolery.
It's just that after I read her story "Between Now and Eternity" I got a bad case of Earth-porn fever. Or Arg-117p-porn fever since that was the name of the planet they were stranded in. Then there's that rich complicated relationship dynamics between two strangers who owe each other their lives. He would certainly allow her some liberty closer to himself albeit their relationship is platonic, her being his survival partner.
I apologize in advance for ruining it with bad writing. If you want to visit the original beautiful story, you can find it here:
s/12787345/1/Between-Now-and-Eternity
So all you need to know is that this fanfiction assumes Between Now and Eternity Story up until they found another escape pod and went back to their main camp. It goes AU from there. They don't get off-planet because the deuterium fuel was not enough. You probably need to read that story first before you enjoy this fic.
PS. I've no beta. This is probably going to be a messy fic.
PPS. I don't own Startrek or Arg-117p. They belong to CBS and TomFoolery respectively.
Arg-117P: Day 90
Winter season has hit its hardest punch. It had been four days now since the full-blown blizzard outside had started. They couldn't access the door hatch of their escape pod because it was now buried with snow. Fireplace outside was buried too, along with the firewood which meant there was no chance of getting warm by fire.
They turned on the heat, setting it to the lowest temperature they could tolerate as much as possible. More weather like this and their power supply might not get them through winter.
The food supply was also faring the same. After two months of winter, Food foraged from the planet were all gone. Day after day they made it last longer but the winter days seem to stretch on indefinitely. They were now at the mercy of the rations. Rations were down to 54 units, one ration per day, and there were still 60 days to go before the salvation of spring.
Always winter but never Christmas. Those were the worst places.
Another escape pod came hurtling down from the sky which had the probability of carrying 40 more life-saving rations. It was too risky to travel there with these unpredictable blizzards. Even so, they will have to go as soon as the storm let up. 40 rations could be stretched into 20 days if both of them continue to eat only one. Which means they will only have to worry about 20 more days before winter is over.
The storm ended the next day but it took another three for the snow that kept them buried to melt to get them free to open the hatch. Thankfully, even the pale winter sun, was enough to get it melted.
Then they had to push back against the frozen hatch. It wouldn't come off at first. Amanda's foreboding grew when it look longer and longer to open the latch. Every time they try another failed attempt, the feeling that they may be stuck inside forever grew. But Sarek heated up the pod warmer, and the door hatch finally broke.
Momentary happiness of being free was dampened by the bitter frost when her face made contact with the outside air. The moment Amanda got out of the pod, she wanted to do nothing more but go back inside. But Sarek was behind her so she pushed forward with great effort. The frost was like tiny knives to her skin, But the heavy coat that she wore seems to have blunted its edge. For a time.
It was just one trouble after another.
Their rucksacks were already ready days before and filled with food that could last them each for four days. So they set off on the cold winter snow without no further delay. Walking further and further away from the pod provided her no comfort.
Thick snow carpeted the ground making their steps barely have any sound. An occasional scruffling of the Rikki-Tikki would dart on the surface. It was a welcome change from the flat white stretched before her that seem to go on and on. Just when Amanda thought she was already slightly enjoying herself, small snowflakes began to fall.
She was in denial at first. It was just a few flakes.
Please stop falling, please stop falling. A few flakes turned into sprinkles. After ten more minutes, they found themselves in the middle of a heavy snowfall. And this time, there was no pod near yet to give them relief.
That night, they bivouacked in the open moor. There were no trees to shield them from the night wind. Amanda huddled closer to the fire for warmth. Amanda pulled the tab to her ration pack and made the most of the hot steam it provided.
The hot food warmed her stomach. From all the food deprivation she's been experiencing, the feel of the food warming her seems to give her a near orgasmic joy. It didn't last long.
The fire crackled healthily away from the harsh wind. She tried to warm her hands by the hot sides but even though it seems to warm a big surface of her hands, it did not seem to provide any relief for long. After about an hour of enduring the cruel cold, Amanda couldn't take more of it.
"Listen," Amanda finally spoke, decorum making way for survival. "This won't do."
"Are you voicing out another set of complaints to factors which we already anticipated to encounter?"
"Let me finish. Look," said Amanda, gulping. "We're both freezing. If we don't act fast, hypothermia might get us faster. But there is another way to produce heat." She looked at everywhere except Sarek. Amanda had the impression that Vulcans would have faced death better than do what she was suggesting. But then again, it was not as if they just did not do the unthinkable during his high Pon Farr.
"What do you suggest?"
"I suggest we snuggle," said Amanda, but it came out as a whisper.
"Could you reiterate what you had just said?"
That was the closest thing Sarek could say that meant 'really?'
"We could sleep back-to-back," said Amanda. "It's one of the survival tactics humans do during winter. It will prevent the heat from escaping our bodies."
Sarek went silent for a moment.
"Sarek?" she prompted.
"Yes," he said finally. "That seems a feasible solution."
Amanda stared at him daring him to do the first move. Finally, she sighed. Sarek might have agreed, but he would never be the one to venture out and do it. She contemplated first if she would just let him freeze a bit more until her conscience got the better of her or he finally gets some sense of logic and kicks useless dignity aside, but she was far too merciful for that. So she stood up.
The moment she stood up, Sarek had also stood. So they were locked in a checkmate where none of them would make a move.
"Should I-"
"Would it be appropriate-"
"No, I should move to your side. It looks cosier."
"I concur."
Finally, after a few more awkward blunders, she slipped inside his sleeping bag. She opened the zipper of her own sleeping bag and placed it on top of both of them. The two blankets now covering their body offered a higher degree of relief than just one. They lay with each other's back against each other. The moment she touched Sarek's back, she sighed in relief. "Oh heat. Finally."
"I should have suggested this sooner," muttered Amanda under her breath.
"I agree." He heard. Vulcan ears.
"You do?!" When she heard Sarek sigh, she explained. "I mean, You think this is a good idea? I had thought you would not think of doing this no matter how desperate. You always seem to sleep as far away from me as possible." Sarek could not see her face, but he could still sense a hint of bitterness in it.
"I am amenable to the idea. As I am not a resident of a planet that experiences winter, I have no technique such as this is my information arsenal. You are freezing also and in the same danger of hypothermia. This is the right cause of action before our temperature goes down dangerously. Why have you not spoken sooner?"
"Well if it wasn't for you Vulcanizing everything, I might have."
"Can you clarify the meaning of your last sentence?" said Sarek.
"Nothing. It's not important."
"I defer to your judgement."
They pressed against each other quite comfortably when Amanda spoke again.
"Um, Sarek?"
"Yes?"
"Are you still awake?"
"As you may surmise."
"I noticed your hands are cold. Will you let me help you?"
"Will you consent?" Amanda spoke again. She knew now touching the hand of a Vulcan was a crime without permission. And as he respected her autonomy to the point of death, it was reasonable to extend the same.
"Yes," he finally said.
She turned to face him and to press her front body back to his back. Then her hands trailed below to touch his hands. The first thing she noticed was that it was ice-cold. The next thing was that he wasn't.
There was a tiny flicker when their hands touched. It immediately stopped when their hands parted. Amanda gasped. Sarek hesitated and drew back his hand, but Amanda gripped it again before he could fully wrench it out.
"No. Your hands are too freezing to leave well alone."
The intense fire of passion flowed again. It was not just sparks now. It was electric, and it seeped through all corners of her being. "Why didn't you tell me?" said Amanda, actually quite shocked that he held such passion underneath his fingers.
"I do not know what it is precisely I should not be telling you."
"That you are still on Pon Farr."
"Amanda," he said slowly, "It is no longer my Pon Farr."
Amanda fell silent.
"I do not intend to make you uncomfortable," he said after a while.
"Me too. I'm making you uncomfortable."
Her amalgam of conflicting emotions was hard to read. Sarek concluded that it was a warm platonic concern for his well-being and nothing more.
"Thank you," she said afterwards when she found her tongue, trying to back paddle and save the awkward conversation she opened about his Ponn Farr. Gratefulness. Contentment.
"To which of the things I did are you expressing your gratitude?"
"To all of them."
She heard Sarek say "Illogical" before she finally fell asleep.
.oOo.
The next day proved more tolerable than the last. Amanda cut some edible tree bark, chopped it to small length and added it to one ration pack which they shared. A half ration of food with a generous supplement of the bark proved to be more sustaining than a full ration. When they finally set forward after their breakfast, wider trees started to appear and it proved to be a marginal shield from the strong wind.
Sarek suddenly stopped on his tracks.
"What's wrong?" she said, stopping beside him. His lips were pursed. She followed his gaze up to the mountain and saw a giant swirling hurricane farther away from the mountain-top. The tricorder that Sarek was tweaking was suddenly beeping dangerously red with its weather prediction. The numbers were rapidly rising higher. Amanda caught the number 152km/h before it went up to 258km/h and still it climbed and beeped higher and higher.
Amanda didn't need to be told twice. Suddenly they were running and running, as fast as they can to find any kind of resemblance to a shelter. If the storm hit and they were still out in the open, it might blow them like paper dolls.
Sarek would stop by a hollow among the trees, then shake his head and continue on.
"Tricorder detected a cave deep enough for shelter but it's 0.63 Kilometer far. I am trying to determine if a shallower one will do," said Sarek.
"We'll just have to make a run for it!" said Amanda.
No matter how fast Amanda ran, it was impossible to look like she was actually having speed. Her coat was thick and the snow was slowing her down. She blinked, the sky grew dark and the mountain that looked like the Devil's doom because of its darkness was no longer there. It was because it was now all around them.
But there was no shelter. All the trees around them were small and ill-equipped to block them from the wind. They have to keep moving forward.
4 minutes, 0.47 Kilometers later, small ice particles began to fall. Not yet dangerous in size but if it was any indication to what was more to come, then she had no intention of staying anymore in the open. The wind blew sharp. Even with their winter jackets, it was cold. Whatever skin exposed without any covering was colder. They could hardly see each other now.
She can only vaguely hear Sarek shouting her name. And her, replying "I'm here!" as loud as she could. Her hand was grabbed and she was pulled and urged forward.
"Climb up!" Sarek was shouting against the wind. He was also pushing her upwards to climb uphill.
She caught a fleeting glance at the tricorder. 47 meters, not far now. 43 meters. It doesn't seem to be moving no matter how much she walked on. The Blizzard raged. 39 meters, just a few more steps. No. It was an upward climb. 39 meters in a flat was different from 39 meters on a climb. One more heavy heave up and then another. She held on to the vines or anything else she could grab, for her dear life. Upward and upward they went.
Then Sarek slipped. Another hell broke loose.
"Sarek!" she shrieked below her. She couldn't see him at all.
"Amanda, go to the caves!"
"Are you alright?!"
"My ankle is damaged. Move to the caves!"
Crazy Vulcan! If he wanted me to move up, he should never have mentioned his ankle. A moment later, a rope dangled beside him in defiance.
"Put that around you and around your two legs! Distribute your weight. I'm going to help pull you up by a rock as a lever!"
"Amanda! The storm!" he seemed angry.
"I'm not leaving here until you move!"
Illogical human. He did as she instructed. Then with the help of her rope, his good feet, and a great deal of pain from his bad one, they managed to pull him up to her. She immediately hugged him.
Relief, Joy radiated from her when he touched her. They somehow managed the few meters of the climb. They were finally in the cave. She drew a deep breath revelling on the feeling of lesser cold prickling her lungs.
Upon reaching inside, dropped her bag unceremoniously to the floor to look for the bone-knitter, grabbed Sarek's leg and set to work.
"Do you," she started, her words coming out as deep pants, "really think humans leave comrades behind to die in blizzards?"
The cave was deep enough to keep the wind out for above it. The ground was not blanketed with snow which made every stone prick her when she laid down. But it hardly made any difference now that she was used to hard stony beds. And it was a small price to pay if they were to be out of the sharp wind. They decided to camp there for the night as the storm raged again outside and it was the only thing from miles that could provide a marginal shelter from it.
They survived a cruel snowstorm and were warm enough. It was another narrow escape. There was much to be thankful for. She shuddered to think what would have happened if they did not have the tricorder. Amanda wondered how many narrow escapes they had to go through before they were finally out of the woods.
Outside the Blizzard raged. But they found a corner that the wind could not reach.
Her clothes and hands and ears and chin started to thaw, then everything she wore was wet and wetter. Amanda felt cold. She gripped the sleeping bag to her tighter. She took her clothes off and moved closer to the fire.
She was sweating. She was feverish. It might be just the warm fire. She was hot, cold, shivery, and hungry, but she didn't want to eat. A few more minutes, and there was no more denying it. She finally admitted to herself: she was sick. She could see Sarek looking into her, calling her name. Everything else was a blur. A hypospray bit her neck and she knew no more.
.oOo.
Amanda opened her eyes the next morning. The storm was gone. It just passed them and quickly went away. By the looks of it, the recorded 352km/hour speed did not happen to them. They were only positioned on its fringes. Only the hairs of the violent storm reached them. She looked over to Sarek to greet him good morning. Her words stopped in her lips when he saw his form.
Sarek was shivering in his sleeping bag. He was sweating. Something was wrong. Amanda felt his forehead. He was burning. He mumbling to himself some mixed Vulcan and Standard phrases. She didn't understand the Vulcan.
She looked for the anti-infection hypospray. The liquid inside was all gone.
"Sarek? Why is the medicine all gone?!" she shrieked.
"Administered...to you... last night... you were... burning... dying," he whispered.
"And you didn't think about saving up for yourself?! You had a broken ankle for heaven's sake!"
"Amanda... T'hy'la...Would not let you die..." he mumbled further.
Crazy Vulcan. She took off her sleeping bag and draped it over him. She wrapped him up like a cocoon, then blazed the fire on daytime. For the next hour, she was frantic. She took hold of the laser-cutter and cut the nearest tree to hurried logs, praying for the equipment not to go empty on her too. Vulcans were strong, resilient. But they do not do cold.
For their ration packs, she took one spoon and nothing more. The rest, she fed to Sarek. Then she was out in the forest again brandishing her tricorder from tree bark tree bark, looking for something that contained aspirin-like medicinal properties or Vitamin C. When she found a hit, she cut it and boiled it then quickly fed it to her ward. 44mg Vitamin C content. 32mg anti-bacterial. It was not like the hypospray but it was better than nothing.
And all the time he was mumbling incoherently.
"T'hy'la, be with me...Nam-tor k' e," he said when she went away from his side to tend to the fire.
"Shhh... don't talk. Don't waste your breath," she got back and whispered to him in his frenzied state. She hugged him on the side in spite of all his blankets and lay her head to his neck then cried the night. "Don't leave me, Sarek. Don't leave me here alone. Don't die on me."
His hands moved a fraction to take hold of her hand that was near his lap. His hands were hot coals. Through his laboured breathing, he was trying to offer comfort to her distress. She didn't let go.
.oOo.
She opened her eyes the next day to find her blanket draped back to herself. Sarek was standing near the entrance of the cave.
"Sarek? Sarek! You're alive!" she rushed over to embrace him.
"Yes, I am well."
She looked up to him. "You should not have used up all the hypospray on me," she admonished.
"And you should not have waited for me to climb up and put yourself in unnecessary danger," he said steely.
Then came their conversation that consisted entirely of pursed lips, raised eyebrows, and steady defiance. From both parties. It was cut short when her stomach began to growl.
"Have you eaten?"
She shook her head. "Not since last night."
"I see. Eat the last ration pack. You have starved enough."
"No." she steeled her feet. "You've been sick."
"You are recovering also."
"You have an injured ankle," retorted Amanda.
"Alright, we will divide it by half."
"Three fourths-"
"Half."
"Fine."
"It seemed that we have finally arrived at a compromise."
"It would seem so, Mr Ambassador."
His lips quirked into an almost smile. It turned neutral half a second later. "Now that it is settled, let us have breakfast."
And that was the last thing they ate before they arrived at the escape pod.
Author's note:
I'm going to drop this little plot bunny. Because it was jumping in my head and wanted to come out. If anyone wants to take it up and write about it, then go ahead. But the Arg-117P planet is not my planet. It belongs to tomFoolery. It would need another person's copyright permission.
Amanda and Sarek built a life in Arg-117P. They bore many sons and daughters.
One day, the pod accidentally turned on and jolted Sarek and Amanda off the planet. When they got out of the time-dilation they found that they have not aged and they were just Amanda and Sarek once again, with the same clothes as when they first entered the time dilation. (Ring a bell anyone? *cough Narnia *cough)
But when they looked at Arg-117P, lo and behold, a warp-capable civilization has appeared. A civilization that now considers Sarek and Amanda as their highest respected ancestor. There were legends regarding them, something along the lines of "As they ascended from the sky so will they come down again and put wrong into right."
With Amanda and Sarek's space seed planted, it flourished into a civilization. 18000 years of time meant it could follow some of the timelines of earth. World War, Humanistic Evolution: Or should I say, Vumanistic Evolution, seeing as their sons and daughters were all hybrids which became a new separate people with their own set of cultures. The Vumans: Emotionally challenged like Humans, creative, unpredictable tacticians, Inventors and problem-solvers but with IQ and big processing brains as Vulcans. And so we have a race, that has the unpredictability of humans, but the high-functioning brains of the Vulcans.
Spock would be welcomed as the son of Sarek and will be accepted in their society as "one of us" and will finally feel as not an outsider... as a whole person, not a half and half. And because of their more advanced ways, Humans and Vulcans started waking up, accepted diversity as advancement instead of disability, and not treat half-bloods and fourth-bloods as something halves but wholes.
Amanda and Sarek's next visitation to the planet was interpreted as a second coming, and it would be the first contact with the Vumans. Federation is looking into a way to tactically use this to their advantage.
And so from there, you can create a whole set of culture and philosophical viewpoints.
How do you think the Vumans culture, technology and religion would develop to be? Place your bets and your suggestions in the comments!