Part Two
Charlene clutched the edges of her desk seeking purchase, her uniform dress hiked up high exposing her round bottom. Scotty's fingers dug into her hips as he drove into her relentlessly. Her PADD, which had been resting precariously on the edge of the desktop, fell to the carpeted floor. A sickening crack informed Charlene that they had managed to break another one. She would have to learn to keep her desktop clear of breakables. However, Charlene could not bring herself to care at that moment. Scotty was so deep, thrusting hard and sure, hitting the most delicious spots. Charlene knew that it wouldn't be long before she came apart, shuddering and moaning beneath the Scotsman.
This had become a familiar routine for them since their return from Moonbase Gamma. A few months before that fateful mission, Charlene and Scotty had just begun to date again, trying their hand at romance once more after two years of separation. [1] Since the events on Gamma-Omega, where four young security and engineering officers were cut down right before Scotty's eyes, their relationship had been in fast-forward. They went from dating a few times per week, sharing short kisses at the end of the night to spending nearly all of their free time together. When they were not having deep conversations about their future together, they were making love. Lately, "making love" did not aptly describe their activities. No. Their interactions had not been so tender and sweet.
Their work schedules had become such that it was difficult to find time to schedule the long dinners and lazy gentle sessions to which they had become accustomed. They were not even on complimentary shifts that would allow Charlene to steal a few hours' sleep tucked against her lover's broad chest before he was called back to duty. So, they stole whatever moments they could find to get as close to each other as possible.
Scotty had pleasured her in the Jeffries tubes. Charlene trapped him in a conveniently stalled turbolift. If they passed each other in the hall, they would automatically locate the nearest closet or empty conference room. Scotty would lock the door, press her against the wall, push her panties aside and take her fully clothed, Charlene biting her lip to keep quiet as she clung to his shoulders. On days like today, when Charlene's shift just ended and Scotty found himself on break, he would follow her to her quarters, lock the door and take her on the sofa, coffee table or, his favorite place, her desk.
"Too…ahhh…too much," she managed. "Scotty, I can't…"
"Breathe through it," Scotty commanded, his voice strained as he bent his head to suck on the exposed skin at the base of neck.
Charlene wrapped her fingers tightly around the edge of the desk and took quick breaths. Soon she began to meet his thrusts, the sensation of him moving against and within her no longer too much to endure.
"That's it," Scotty panted, his voice harsh in her ear. "Come for me, lass."
It did not take much longer for Charlene to comply, her vision blurring with the force of her release. Scotty was not far behind, grunting her name as he emptied himself into her. Scotty stumbled into the desk, leaning heavily against Charlene. Once he had recovered somewhat, he stepped back from her.
"Och," he sighed as he took in the rumpled state of his uniform. "Looks like I'll be needing to change."
Charlene opened her eyes, her vision still hazy. "Sorry."
"Aye, you have nothin' to apologize for," Scotty replied as he leaned down to kiss her flushed cheeks. "I take it as a compliment. Sign of a job well done."
Charlene giggled tiredly and kissed his lips briefly. "Don't let it go to your head."
"Come, Leenie," Scotty said as he scooped her up in his arms. "You're almost dead to the world. I'll tuck ya in before I go."
Scotty managed to peel back the covers with one hand before gently placing Charlene onto the bed. He helped her slip her uniform dress over her head and her boots from her feet. He covered her with a sheet before lying at her side
"Monty, you'll be late," Charlene protested as Scotty wrapped one arm around her.
"I've got a good fifteen minutes before my dinner break is done. Time enough for a quick change and a swing by the mess hall to grab some protein nibs, all with minutes to spare."
Charlene turned around to face him and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. "You haven't had a good meal in weeks. You can't survive on those ghastly protein…"
A loud yawn interrupted her speech.
"When our schedules are sane again, I'll cook you a proper dinner of mutton pie and rumbledethumps [2]. All your favorites," Charlene murmured as her eyes began to close.
"You mean, replicate one. Unless ya plan to poison me," Scotty teased. Charlene was a gifted scientist and engineer, but a horrid cook.
Charlene yawned again before sticking her tongue out at him. "Programming counts as cooking."
Scotty chuckled and kissed her softly on the lips. "I love you, Charlene Masters. Why did you ever give me a second chance?"
"I like men in kilts," Charlene quipped, her voice heavy with sleep.
Scotty stared at her seriously, taking in the sight of her face completely relaxed and at peace.
"Marry me Charlene," he whispered. "Marry me right on the ship this week. The captain can perform the ceremony. What do you say, lass?"
"Hmmm, whatever you want, Monty," Charlene sighed before falling asleep.
Scotty remained in bed watching her sleep. "Right," he sighed before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Remind me ta ask you when you're awake," he whispered.
"I find this activity to be most illogical, Nyota," Spock's deep voice rumbled pleasantly.
"Everything doesn't have to be logical, sugar," Nyota replied, kissing his lips briefly.
"Normal human kisses are vastly superior, Nyota. Furthermore, I find the name that you have given this activity to be misleading."
"Oh, Spock. A few Eskimo kisses won't hurt you. You might even find that you enjoy them."
Spock rolled his eyes; a dramatic expression that Uhura knew was done solely for her amusement.
"You may proceed."
Uhura grinned triumphantly before tilting her face close to his and repeatedly brushing her nose across the tip of his. She pulled back and looked into his blank face, noting the slight softening of his eyes with satisfaction.
"See, silly. That wasn't so bad. Now you try."
Spock covered her body with his and copied her activity. However, instead of confining himself to the tip of her nose, he proceeded to "kiss" her forehead, each cheek, down her jaw line and across her collarbone. Nyota shivered.
"What was that?" Uhura asked.
"An improvisation," Spock replied before capturing her lips.
Nyota smiled against his mouth and wrapped her arms around his waist, running her hands up the planes of his back to brush her fingers against his shoulder blades in the manner that he liked. Spock purred deep in his chest.
When Uhura suddenly found her arms bereft of her warm Vulcan, her first instinct was to scream. She sat up abruptly, her eyes frantically searching for Spock. She swung her bare legs over the side of the bed, grabbing his discarded undershirt to slip over her head as she searched his quarters, calling his name as she paced the room. Realizing the idiocy of her activity, she stopped in the center of the room, shutting her eyes and willing her panic to retreat behind the force of her reason. Panic would not locate Spock. She had mastery over her emotions.
"Computer, please locate Commander Spock."
"Commander Spock is no longer aboard the Enterprise."
"Shit," Uhura breathed as she drummed her fingers against the desk.
Nyota took a deep breath and refocused. She decided to message Captain Kirk. Perhaps he would know what was happening. She rang the captain, but his commlink remained unanswered after several moments. Her panic began to break through her careful controls.
"Computer, locate Captain Kirk."
"Captain Kirk is no longer aboard the Enterprise."
Nyota repeated the process with Dr. McCoy, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov and Mr. Leslie and received the same result. Something was seriously wrong. The entire chain of command ahead of her was missing from the ship. Something in Uhura turned over. She no longer wrestled to control her panic or fear. She rose from her seat and began to dress. Just as she finished pulling on her boots, her commlink chimed.
"Nyota," the panicked voice of Lieutenant Palmer filled the room. "The captain and half the bridge crew disappeared. The entire ship is in panic. Calls are coming in from all over the place reporting missing crewmen. I don't know what to do…"
"Everything will be ok, Beth. I'm on my way to the bridge. Put the ship on yellow alert."
"But only the commanding officer can do that," Palmer replied.
"I'm the highest ranking command officer on board, Lieutenant Palmer. Put the ship on yellow alert. Captain's orders."
Charlene stood across from Scotty, her hands clasped in his, luxuriating in his adoring gaze. He looked so handsome in his dress uniform and tartan. She glanced to her side to see a smiling Nyota standing beside her, wearing a sleeveless teal gown, a bouquet of fire lilies clutched in her hands. Her dark eyes sparkled with unshed tears.
She turned her head to see Captain Kirk standing before them behind a podium, also dressed in his uniform vest, his chest adorned with awards. He smiled at her warmly before speaking.
"Do you, Charlene Lenae Masters, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Charlene replied. Scotty's smiled deepened and he pressed her fingers.
"And do you, Montgomery Gawyn Scott, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold as long as you both shall live?"
"Aye, I do indeed."
"The rings, Lieutenant."
Charlene turned to see Lieutenant Kyle step forward, an open ring box in his hands and his face spit in his familiar silly grin. Charlene took one platinum band from the box and turned to face Scotty.
"With this ring, I thee wed," she whispered before sliding the band onto Scotty's finger.
Scotty turned and took the remaining band. He lifted her hand in his, caressing her fingers gently.
"With this ring…"
Charlene was torn from her pleasant dreams by the sound of blaring alarms. The ship was on yellow alert. She sprang from the bed, foregoing her usual sonic shower to pull on her uniform. Just as she was about to make her way to the door to rush to Engineering, her personal commlink sounded.
"Masters, here."
"Lieutenant Masters," Lieutenant Palmer began, her voice strangely tight. "Please report to the bridge."
"I'm on my way."
Charlene ran out into the hall, her mind whirring with questions. The halls were abuzz with activity, crewmembers running to and fro, some pulling on boots and tugging uniform dresses into place as they made their way through the halls. As Charlene moved towards the turbolifts, she realized that she had not seen a single male crewmember.
"Attention crew. This is Acting Captain Lieutenant Uhura. All personnel please report to their stations for assignment by their department heads," Nyota's calm voice flowed through the ship wide speakers. "Please maintain calm and refrain from using the computers and communicators to locate missing crewmen. All ship wide communications and computers are to be solely used for official business."
Charlene stepped into the turbolift trying to dissect the meaning of Nyota's message. Apparently many crewmembers had gone missing. If Nyota was acting captain, that meant that Scotty was among that number. Charlene tried to swallow the mounting panic in her chest. She soon arrived on the bridge and found that her suspicions were confirmed. Captain Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Chekov, every male bridge officer was missing, their stations manned by female, agender, and third gender crewmembers. Uhura sat in the captain's chair, Yeomen Rand at her side feverishly taking notes on a PADD. When Uhura spied Charlene, she waived her over.
"Nyota, what's going on?"
"We don't know just yet, Charlene. But, what we do know is that scores of crewmen are suddenly missing. We're getting reports from all over the ship of husbands, mates and colleagues suddenly disappearing."
"Are we under attack?"
Uhura shook her head. "Unlikely. We haven't picked up any nearby ships. I'm assembling a team to meet in the Ready Room as soon as scans of the planet below are complete. I want you to serve as my first officer, Charlene."
"Me?"
"Yes. I need someone that I can trust and we've worked very well in the field before. Plus, you're one of the top scientists on board. Who best to fill Spock's shoes at a time like this?"
Charlene swallowed before shaking her head. "I'll do my best, sir."
Uhura nodded at her before turning towards Rand once more.
"Janice, I want you to conduct a survey and compile a list of every crewmember that is unaccounted for. Have Yeoman Tamura pour over the duty rosters by department. Find out who is the highest-ranking officer left in each department and inform them that they are now promoted to department head. Give them the rosters of all remaining crewmembers in their department and instruct them that they are ordered to fill the now vacant positions as soon as possible."
"Yes, Captain," Rand replied before heading to the turbolift.
Uhura rose from the captain's chair and walked over to the science station where Doctor Ann Mulhall stood peering into the scanner.
"How are scans of the planet progressing, Doctor? Anything out of the ordinary?"
"Yes, Captain," Ann replied. "I've found some readings that are very interesting."
"Good. Make a tape and report to the Ready Room," Uhura commanded before stepping towards her chair once more and flicking on the ship intercom.
"Attention. Will the following officers report to the captain's Ready Room. Lt. Mira Romaine, Doctor Helen Noel, Yeoman Zahra Jamal, and Nurse Christine Chapel. Repeat, report to the Ready Room immediately. Uhura out."
Uhura turned towards the helm where Ensign Jana Haines and Lieutenant Lakshmi Radha sat at the controls.
"Lieutenant Radha, you have the helm," Uhura ordered. She turned to make her way to the Ready Room when Radha's anxious voice called her back to the helm.
"Captain, you'll want to come see this."
Uhura turned and stopped dead in her tracks. There, on the view screen, was a Klingon war ship.
"Raise shields," Uhura shouted over her shoulder. "Palmer, put the ship on red alert and attempt to hail the Klingon ship."
"Aye Captain," Palmer replied as her hands busied themselves at the controls.
The air was soon filled with the familiar wails of the red alert alarms.
"Captain, our hails are going unanswered," Palmer reported.
"Odd," Uhura murmured as she turned from the view screen towards the science station. "You usually can't get a Klingon to shut up. Ann, do you have anything for me?"
"Its pretty strange," Mulhall replied as she peered into the blue scanner. "I am not picking up a single life form on the ship. However, all of their systems appear to be operating normally. The ship is running dangerously low on fuel. Their orbit will begin to deteriorate in less than an hour."
"Main samjah nahi," Radha murmured as she peered at the view screen. [3]"It's almost as if the entire crew decided to pop out for a coffee break."
"Do you think we'll have time enough to send a team over for a quick look?"
"If we hurry," Mulhall replied.
"Palmer, drop us back to yellow alert," Uhura ordered.
Soon after she finished speaking, Chapel, Romaine, Jamal and Noel filed onto the bridge.
"There has been a quick change of plans, ladies," Uhura said as she turned to face them. "Christine, Zahra and Charlene follow me to the transporter room."
Spock woke up abruptly, a sharp pain piercing the side of his neck. He opened his eyes to view his brightly lit surroundings. He appeared to be in a medical bay of sorts, strapped to a table. He could feel the cold metal pressed into the bare skin of his back. It appeared as if he had been undressed, his chest and legs bare save for a kilt like garment draped around his hips. Spock felt a cool metal band snap around his neck. He tried to lift his hands to his neck to investigate, but found that his arms were restrained.
"The handsome one has awoken, mistress," a feminine voice announced.
Spock tried to turn his head to discover the source of the voice, but could not.
"Peace, Handsome One," a different female voice soothed. The owner of the voice walked into Spock's view, looking down at him with appraising yellow eyes set in a dark face.
"You shall fetch a high price, Handsome One. I would not be surprised if the queen herself chooses you. You would sire strong daughters."
"Where am I and why have you restrained me?"
The purple haired woman's full lips stretched into a smile.
"He speaks well, does he not, Afina?" The woman's companion stepped into view. Her skin was a pale gold and her eyes a brilliant green.
"That he does," Afina replied.
"Answer my question. Where am I and why have you restrained me?" Spock repeated.
"Hush, Handsome One," the one named Tamur replied. "You must learn to speak only when spoken to. You are on Acunia now. You must learn your place as a man if your life here is to be an easy one."
"I demand that you release me and return me to my ship."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a shock of energy shot from his collar through his body. Spock bit down on his lip, drawing blood.
"Afina! We must not damage him before the auction," Tamur scolded before grabbing a small square device from the smaller woman's hands. "You have caused him injury and the Queen shan't be pleased."
Tamur stepped away and returned shortly with a wet cloth. She dabbed gently at Spock's mouth, removing the green blood that beaded on his lip.
"You will soon learn to obey, Handsome One. We do not wish to harm you," Tamur said as she applied a stinging salve to his cut lip.
"Do not resist or I shall be forced to punish you again," Afina informed him as she undid his restraints.
As soon as his hands were free, Spock brought his hands up to his neck and fingered the device. Before he could question the women again, he was prodded by Afina to stand.
"Follow me, Handsome One, I shall take you to your friends."
Spock stood and followed Tamur, Afina walking closely behind him. He carefully observed his surroundings as he went. They walked out of the brightly lit medical room, through a short hallway into the open air. The air was warm and slightly dry. Whatever planet they were on was temperate and blessed with abundant flora. They walked down a black stone path past multi-storied stone buildings whose tan walls were decorated with brightly colored stones. Before the buildings stretched lawns of purple grasses filled with plants and trees of exotic colors and foliage. Spock tilted his head back to observe the cloudless blue sky in which four large moons were visible.
As he walked, he observed several females walking about in small groups. They were all of a statuesque build like his guards and their skin were various shades of gold, brown, blue and green. Spock only observed one male. His lean gangly frame and clean-shaven face suggested that he was no more than sixteen years old. He walked several feet behind a tall woman with dark blue skin. He was dressed in a similar manner as Spock, wearing a brown leather skirt and collar. However, his arms were adorned with gold bands.
Soon, they turned up a path and were led into a large tall walled courtyard. On either side of the courtyard were barred cells filled with his colleagues from the Enterprise. All of them appeared to be male and were also dressed in kilts, their necks fitted with the strange collars.
They stopped before one large cell where Spock could see Captain Kirk, Scotty and a few others.
"Spock," Jim called as he stepped towards the bars. "They've got you too?"
"It would appear so, Captain."
"Step back from the bars or risk punishment," Tamur threatened.
Kirk stepped back to stand beside McCoy, Riley and the others as the door was drawn back. Spock stepped into the cell and whirled around as the door clanged shut behind him.
"You can't keep us here," Kirk yelled to Tamur and Afina's retreating backs. "I demand to speak to your leader."
"Queen Kathra will come to inspect you anon," Tamur replied. "However, do not expect her to be sympathetic to your plea for release, Golden One. You will never set foot on your ship again."
Footnotes:
[1] Refers to events that take place in earlier stories in my Constellations series, particularly in Martha's Tears, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (WIP) and Golden Bells and Serpent Gods. Knowledge of those stories is not necessary to follow this story.
[2] rumbledethumps= A Scottish dish of potatoes, onion and cabbage similar to Irish colcannon and British bubble and squeak. A side dish or main dish
[3] Main Samjah Nahi! = "I don't understand!" In Urdu.