Notes: After Anton Yelchin died I wanted to write a story featuring Pavel Chekhov. This is what came of it.


ooo

Of Friendship and Wormholes

By gammacorvi

-Chapter 4-

Temporal Mechanics, Part 1

ooo

"Where's Chekhov?" the Captain asks.

The away team was nine members strong when they left, now there are only eight. Only one of them manages to meet the Captain's eyes.

David Cho, a bright young ensign who has been with the Enterprise all through the Khan affair, clears his throat.

"Sir, we assume that he is dead. We had to break off the search when the temporal rift started closing."

"You assume."

There is a dangerous edge in the Captain's voice. The away team is visibly uncomfortable. When he takes one step closer several of them recoil.

Spock casts a quick glance at the Captain. His crew is not as a general rule afraid of him, quite the contrary actually. Their reaction is unusual .

Ensign Cho is the only one who stands his ground.

"Yes, sir."

"Lieutenant Baker, what do you have to say?"

Lieutenant Baker was in command of the away mission. Now he starts sputtering.

"Captain, the temporal rift was closing, we almost didn't make it back. We could have been stranded!"

"So you stranded Ensign Chekhov."

"He's bound to be dead, Captain. Believe me, there was nothing more we could do. The weather conditions… The predators…"

"There were predators?"

"Yes, Sir...I mean…"

The Captain doesn't let him finish the sentence but makes a dismissive gesture with his right hand.

"Mr. Spock, did the temporal rift close completely?"

"Yes, Captain. There is no trace left. The away team returned just in time."

"Can we reopen it?"

"Unlikely, Captain, but there are options that we can explore."

"Let's get to it."

"Captain," Ensign Cho says, "When we entered the temporal rift the first time it took us right back to the Enterprise."

The Captain looks at him, questioning.

"We had to turn around and reenter the rift before it took us to the other side."

The Captain shakes his head.

"I can't see how that's relevant right now."

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir. I just thought it was worth mentioning."

The Captain and Spock exit the shuttle bay, leaving a shattered away team behind.

"This is not the way a temporal rift would behave," Spock says.

"It doesn't mean anything, Spock. They probably made a mistake. Let's just concentrate on getting Chekhov back, okay?"

"Very well, Captain."

ooo

They are 18 months into the 5-year-mission and the Captain has earned the reputation of never leaving a member of the crew behind. Ever.

There have been some close calls. The worst one that Spock remembers, was the away team that got stranded on a Y class planet, when a solar storm from the systems binary star interfered with the transporter. The environment was heating up, because a major seismic event had activated several volcanoes. Retrieval was deemed too dangerous.

In a last ditch effort the Captain had sent down Spock, in a shuttle, alone, because according to the Doctor, Spock would be the only one on board able to withstand the temperatures while wearing a protective suit.

As it turned out the situation had not been quite as dire as expected. The away team was treated for burns and Spock had been just fine. Spock is aware, though, that had the Enterprise been commanded by another Captain the away team could have been abandoned, to not endanger any more lives.

This, at least is what Starfleet protocol recommends. Of course, the Captain has never been big on protocol.

ooo

"Does anyone have a solution for me?"

"Captain, there is no known way of breaching the space-time continuum. Applying concentrated converging tachyon beams from three different sources is considered a possibility, although this is just theory. We would need three constitution class starships to achieve this, but the nearest ones are the Farragut and the Nightingale, respectively three weeks and two months away at maximum warp."

Here is the deal: The Farragut is currently patrolling the perimeter of the Neutral Zone. Relations with both the Klingons and the Romulans are strained. The Nightingale, a medical research and supply vessel is delivering medical supplies to several outlying colonies and medical aid to a space station that has been hit by an unknown virus.

Spock sees the realization of the impossibility to withdraw either ship from its mission hit the Captain. Then his gaze takes on that focused, stubborn quality that means he is plotting something and failure is not an option.

Spock, forever more pragmatic than his friend, does his best to give solutions where no solutions should be possible.

Now the Captain looks at him, pleading with Spock to give him something to work with, without so many words.

The problem is that little is known about space-time anomalies. Few of them have been encountered and only a handful properly scanned and documented. Their scientific methods and instruments, logical thinking in itself, designed to occupy a specific place in the space-time continuum, are imperfectly suited to understand the nature of anomalies of time and space. Spock currently regards space-time as a vast river, its water full of swirls and eddies, the flow faster in the middle of the stream than towards the banks, tributaries branching out like branches on a tree. Who knows where it will end, in what vast ocean of time. This however is just an imperfect theory, a picture in Spock's mind and the truth remains unseen. His contemplations are complicated by his conviction that their own timeline is nothing more than a recent off-branch of a wider stream, created when his counterpart opened a black hole and ripped open space and time.

Ah, yes, his counterpart, good-naturedly meddling in the affairs of the universe, ran afoul of the forces of revenge and evil personified in one man and altered all of their destinies. Whether for the better or worse, senselessly or for a specific purpose remains to be seen.

Red matter.

An artificial substance that Spock's counterpart used to insert into a supernova. And action that ripped apart the fabric of space and time. A volatile substance, which manufacture is currently outlawed. A few drops have been preserved in the Katric Ark on New Vulcan, something that is technically not approved under Federation law and only known to a few.

Red matter will not help them recover Chekhov. The Enterprise's science lab however holds a small container of decalithium isotopes. The very substance that is used to manufacture red matter. Spock's own research has shown that decalithium has a barely measurable impact on the flow of time. Spock wonders what will happen if the decalithium isotopes are brought into contact with the region of space still weakened by a recent temporal rift.

Spock and Scotty run the computer simulations.

"No, Captain," Sulu explains, "The rift doesn't need to have a specific size for the shuttle to go through. Actually, any size will do. Even an opening the size of a pinprick will pull us through."

"The shuttle will not be harmed," Spock adds, when he sees the Captain's face.

They deploy the decalithium. But by the time the rift reopens, 12 hours later, Spock is not sure if the decalithium actually had any effect or if this region of space is prone to close and reopen the rift at random intervals.

ooo

"You and me, Sulu," the Captain says.

"Yes, sir."

"Captain," Spock interjects, "May I point out that neither you nor Lieutenant Sulu have any experience in applied temporal mechanics. This rift will likely close again and you will find yourselves stranded on the other side. In that case it would be advisable to take advantage of my expertise… "

"I need you to take care of the ship, Spock."

"Lieutenant Sulu is singularly qualified to take care of the ship as he has demonstrated on multiple occasions. My specific set of skills is best employed at your side."

My Captain, Spock's counterpart says, had the most annoying habit of ordering me to stay behind on the ship and face the most dire situations on his own. Whether this was because he feared for my safety or the safety of the ship, or whether he genuinely prefered to deal with a given circumstance on his own never became clear to me. Invariably he would get himself into trouble and need to be saved, sometimes at great cost. I trust you have already observed the same propensity toward personal disaster in your own Captain?

"Mr. Spock… "

"Captain."

Silence.

"Mr. Sulu, you have the conn."

"Aye,sir."

ooo

A chill wind blows across the mountainside.

A standard issue emergency shelter has been left behind by the original away team, anchored in a sheltered location. There is a vista into a large, forested river valley, tucked between high mountain ranges.

Spock checks the tricorder.

Chekhov got lost somewhere in that river valley. That there are alligator-like creatures living in shallow ponds beside the river is just an unconfirmed rumor.

"We should have gone out here the first time, instead of sending your scientists. You know how I love exploring."

If the Captain had followed his inclination for exploration, most of the senior bridge crew would have gone on the away mission. This is not recommended by Starfleet regulation. But Spock is inclined to indulge the Captain next time. His observations show, that if the Captain is involved, away missions tend to be more dangerous. But because of his superior set of skills in facing said situations, they also require less intervention from those left on the ship. All provided that he has Spock at his side, of course.

"I do, Captain."

"Any life sign readings?"

"Plenty of life signs, Captain, most of them indeterminate. No human life signs."

The Captain's face shows clearly that he is tempted to bring the Enterprise with her superior scanners through the rift. Of course, that is out of the question.

The temporal rift closes again on their second day on the planet. They spend three weeks exploring the river valley by foot and with the help of the shuttle, from the glaciers that feed the river, to the delta that empties into the sea. There is no sign of Chekhov. Not a single trace.

ooo

"We have to face the possibility that the temporal rift led us to a different time in the planet's history. There is no guarantee that the reopened rift even led us to the same timeline," says Spock.

"That had occurred to me. But then what about the shelter? If it's here doesn't that mean we're still in the same timeline?"

"This location might have been visited simultaneously by the crew of an Enterprise from another timeline or another universe altogether."

Temporal Mechanics. So much fun.

The Captain is worn out and gloomy. When Spock suggests a game of chess - it is well after dusk - he explodes:

"Hell, Spock, don't you have any feelings at all? We figure out that Chekhov is lost in time, we'll probably never be able to recover him. He's all alone, probably scared to death and you want to play chess!"

He has gotten up, a replicated sandwich half eaten on his plate, pacing restlessly. He has lost weight. Spock thinks that he might have forgotten that not just Chekhov is lost in time and space - so are they. They currently have no possibility to get back to the Enterprise.

The Captain leaves the shelter and it is probably fortunate that sliding doors cannot be slammed.

Spock takes the opportunity to meditate and regain his balance. The last three weeks have been rewarding in terms of scientific research but deeply frustrating considering their search mission.

Chekhov's bright face follows him into the meditations. The enthusiasm, the pronounced Russian accent, the genius at work - Spock does not want to believe that they will never recover him. He was there at the battle of Vulcan, held his ground when the Enterprise was caught in Earth's gravity well and almost crashed. Spock knows Chekhov saved both the Captain's and Scotty's life. He is part of the family. It is unthinkable to let go of him.

The Captain's assumption, that Spock does not have any feelings in the matter, hurts. They are friends. After all this time Spock thought the Captain knew him better.

ooo

Darkness falls, and when the Captain does not return Spock goes outside. Winter is coming and the nights are cold. A brisk wind is blowing down from the glacier.

Spock listens, but there is only the howling of the wind.

It takes him two hours to locate the Captain and by that time it is dark. Spock feels the night chill into his Vulcan bones although he is wearing a thermal uniform jacket.

They have worn a path a few hundred feet up the mountain to an outcrop that has served them as a lookout. Something strange has sprung up on the mountain side. In the bright light of the planet's moons Spock can see sparkling, crystalline structures, not quite man high.

"Spock!"

The Captain's voice is almost ripped away by the wind. He is crouched, uncomfortably, inside one of the structures and when Spock touches it, it is cold, like ice. The Captain seems to be trapped.

"Spock, I'm so glad to see you! Can you get me out of here?"

The frustration about Spock's assumed lack of feelings seems to be over. There is that to be grateful for.

Spock, initially is not worried. But soon it becomes clear that the crystalline structures, plantlike as they appear, are hard as rock. Unyielding, and impenetrable. The tricorder readings give mixed results and all Spock is sure about is that he can hack his way into one of these structures as little as he can hack his way through transparent aluminum. Spock gets a phaser and a laser cutter from the shelter, but none of them have any effect.

"Shit, Spock, I'm cold…"

Spock kneels in front of the structure that separates them, his hand on the cold crystal and is suddenly not anymore on an uninhabited planet, lost in an alternate universe, but back on the Enterprise, kneeling before a door of transparent aluminum.

He snaps out of it a moment later and sees the Captain staring at him, wide-eyed.

A new star blinks in the sky and Spock's tricorder beeps a notification. The temporal rift has reopened.

ooo

"You have to leave."

The Captain has been trapped in the structure for two days and three nights. He suffers from hypothermia and dehydration. Spock is unsure how long he can make it. He is strong, so maybe another night. But it is getting colder every day and Spock knows that time is running out.

"Mr. Spock, this is an order!"

The temporal rift is closing, rapidly. Spock thinks that if the Enterprise were still on the other side there would have been a shuttle or some form of communication, but there is nothing.

Spock has never openly defied an order before. But there is a first time for everything.

The Captain is begging, warning Spock that when he dies, Spock will be left here all alone.

Spock has been doing calculations on the tricorder when the solution finally becomes clear. It is like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.

The Captain has been quiet for a while, half lying, half crouched against the inside wall of the structure, arms wrapped around himself. Now that Spock puts down the tricorder he looks up.

"Captain," Spock says, "I have reason to believe that this barrier, which seems to be part of a larger, plant-like structure will wither and die in just under three weeks."

The Captain tries to laugh but it doesn't come out well.

"You know, Spock," he whispers, "I'm never going to forgive you for this. I can't have a First Officer who doesn't follow my orders. You're fired."

Spock gives no indication that he has heard, even with his supposedly superior Vulcan hearing. His eyes return to the screen of the tricorder and his fingers rapidly scroll through the available data.

"Of course," he says, "we don't have three weeks. In fact I estimate that we will have to breach this barrier in approximately three hours to ensure your continued survival."

He continues working on the tricorder for several minutes until, at last, he gets up, holding the tricorder low, pointed toward the structure.

"I advise you to roll up and protect your head with your hands," he says.

The Captain does as he is told. There is a high-pitched, whining sound and then heavy chunks rain down around him, bruising his back and arms.

Spock makes an indeterminate sound and helps him up. He produces a bottle of water and holds it against his lips.

The Captain drinks and then fists his hand into Spock's thermal jacket and leans his forehead against his friend's shoulder. Spock, gracefully, does not protest.

"Damn, Spock, I never thought this would work," he says, his voice barely audible.

Spock drapes a blanket around his shoulders.

"Think I'm gonna keep you on as my First Officer after all."

"You will have my resignation as soon as we are back on the Enterprise. I am well aware that the trust between us has been breached. As you said, you cannot employ a First Officer who doesn't follow your orders."

The Captain tries to get up. But his legs feel like wet spaghetti. Spock prevents him from falling. The Captain clings to him and Spock adjusts his arm and grips him firmly around the waist.

"Don't feel like fighting with you," the Captain slurs and Spock has to strain to hear him.

"It is wise," he says.

They are only halfway down the path when the Captain's strength gives out and Spock has to carry him, slung across his shoulders, the rest of the way.

Back in the shelter it is warm. Spock undresses his Captain quickly and efficiently and wraps him in a heated blanket.

He gives him to drink and treats him with several hyposprays. Soon the shivering stops, the Captain's breathing evens out and he relaxes into the blanket.

Spock expects him to sleep, but he merely dozes off for an hour until he is awake again. Staring off into space.

"What a mess," he says softly, his voice considerably stronger than it was before. "I hope Chekhov has more sense than I did, to sit on the ground and get trapped."

He shivers again.

"God, Spock, that kid is so smart and resourceful. I bet he's still out there. We just have to find him."

"We will not abandon him," Spock says.

The Captain looks at him.

"As I could not abandon you. How is it that you ordered me to leave you behind, yet I have never seen you abandon anyone or anything?"

"The time will come," the Captain says and Spock is startled. The Captain cannot possibly know what Spock's counterpart told him about the Admiral's end.

"You expect me to abandon you?"

"I have always known that I will die alone."

"Then now is apparently not the time," Spock says, sensibly.

He wonders if he should say what is in his heart. He is inclined not to but knows that life has a way to turn around and make you regret the things you omitted.

"If you ever find yourself in the situation that you just described, or in any other circumstance that separates us, know that I will come for you."

The Captain turns slowly onto his side, facing him.

"I've never had a friend like you. Maybe with the exception of Bones, but that's a little different."

"Yes," Spock says.

"Hey, I tell you, Bones is as good as gold."

"I will take your word for it."

"I will not accept your resignation."

"It is a matter of trust, Captain."

"I trust you. I trust you to call me out on my bullshit. I trust you not to follow an order that you know is wrong because your Captain can't think straight."

He frees his hand from the blanket and lifts it in the Ta'al.

"My Vulcan is a bit rusty. What is the word for friend again?"

"T'hy'la."

The Captain obviously expects him to touch his hand as they did once before under other circumstances. It is a gesture not customary among Vulcans and carries with it an affinity that Spock knows the Captain is not aware of. Nevertheless he meets the Captain's hand with his own, their palms touching.

"Spock, my t'hy'la," the Captain says, "Thank you for saving my life, again."

Spock feels a great upsurge of emotion. His throat grows tight and he knows he would not be able to speak. The word t'hy'la denotes so much more than the human word friend. There are layers upon layers of friendship, loyalty, trust and love woven into it that reach back, deep into Vulcan's mythological past. A world that is no more. And yet some of it has survived in the things that go from heart to heart.

Spock retrieves his hand and sees the Captain's eyes droop. Soon he is asleep.

ooo

Two days after Spock retrieves his Captain from what they now call the 'ice flowers', winter arrives at their mountainside location. It starts to snow and while Spock still considers if the Captain is well enough and if it would be advisable to move into the valley, several feet have accumulated. By that time he thinks it might be less dangerous to remain, than to move. They are not exactly in a survival situation. The standard issue emergency shelter is durable under almost any condition. While it is a little cramped for an away team of nine, there is plenty of room for two people to not get on each others nerves. There are three bedrooms, a small science lab with an attached hydroponics section. Two replicators and a small matter/antimatter generator provide all necessities of life. They can make it on this planet indefinitely, if need be. And maybe Chekhov, in another timeline, will too.

ooo

"Are you cold?"

"I am comfortable, Captain."

"You don't look comfortable."

"I can assure you that I am fine. The temperature is exactly the same as on the Enterprise."

"Then why are you wearing thermal underwear?"

Spock looks up. Maybe the accommodations can be considered a bit cramped, after all, if his Captain knows what kind of underwear his First Officer is wearing.

"I always wear thermal underwear," he says, trying to preserve his dignity as well as possible.

The Captain mulls that over.

"You know, Spock, I think you're not comfortable on the Enterprise, either. What is it with you Vulcans? I thought the desert gets extremely cold at night. Shouldn't you be used to a wide range of temperatures?"

The Captain, of course, is right. Spock is uncomfortable with the human temperature range. Always has been so. He is aware that he feels cold more keenly than a full Vulcan, or a human. It is one of a number of things that he has learned to live with.

"I am half-human, Captain. My discomfort is possibly due to my hybrid physiology."

The Captain always gets uncomfortable when Spock's half-human, half-Vulcan heritage is brought up. In particular he seems to have a problem with the word 'hybrid'. Spock does not know why. Now he is silent for a long time.

"I'm sorry, Spock. I didn't mean any offence. I just usually think of you as Vulcan, and…"

He stops, looks mortified and closes his mouth.

"Captain," Spock says, "It seems that you expect a sensibility on my side toward the subject of my mixed heritage. I assure you that I am not offended in any way and that this sensibility does not exist."

"You can't tell me…"

Spock waits.

"Jeez, Spock, people are always making remarks about you. He's half this and half that. It's because he's a hybrid. It's because he's not even human. It;s because he's not full Vulcan. I've heard it from your own people, too. And I saw your face when I called you a half-breed. Remember?"

Of course, Spock remembers.

He turns around and faces his Captain.

"Slurs like this are to be expected. Every race we have encountered in the Galaxy displays a certain degree of racial superiority and looks down on those they regard as less. Even more so for those of us of mixed heritage. It is the opinion of a minority, though. I have no particular sensitivity toward the subject."

"Then why…?"

"Mind your own business, Mr. Spock, I'm sick of your half-breed interference. Do you hear?"

To hear his Captain say those words had been difficult. It was fortunate that he had realized, soon, that the Captain had not been himself in that moment.

"I urge you to forget the incident you are referring to, as I have done. You were not at fault."

"You trusted me."

"I know the limitations of putting trust in a human," Spock says, drily.

The Captain laughs.

Then he gets up and cranks up the temperature another three degrees and peels of his uniform jacket. Spock suppresses a sigh.

"I assure you, Captain, it is of no consequence…"

"It is of consequence to me," the Captain says with a tone that means that this conversation is over.

Spock turns back to his work.

ooo

Spock has reviewed the literature on temporal mechanics. It is full of theories and short on fact. It is, in fact, so short on fact that there are wildly differing theories about the true nature of the space-time continuum.

There are those who regard the Universe as a predetermined entity. One is free in one's actions but no matter which course one chooses, the outcome will always be the same. The future is already written. In that case Chekhov is already saved - or lost - no matter what they do.

Spock is quite sure that the rift they have encountered is of a temporal nature. That means they have been displaced in time. But since the planet occupies coordinates where no planet is to be found in their own time, one has to assume that the rift also is a doorway to an alternate universe. It essentially means that not only are they lost in time, they are also lost in one of any number of parallel universes.

The rift they encountered seems to be so unstable that it opens up into a new universe every time it reappears - which means that they themselves and Chekhov, are nothing more than specks of dust, afloat in an infinite multiverse, trying to reach shore.

Or, as the Captain put it:

"We are so fucked…"

And if they try to find their way back to their own universe and their own Enterprise they just might make things worse - traveling down one, and then another one, and another one of endless tributaries in the flow of time. Likely getting farther away from Chekhov, and the Enterprise with every action that they take.

But if there really are infinite parallel universes out there, there are also infinite possibilities how their story will play out in the end. In one universe Chekhov will be found, in another one he will remain lost, in yet another one - who knows…

Spock has two theories that are as yet untested. He thinks it will be possible, with the right equipment, to determine their Quantum signature. A subatomic resonance of matter, tracing back to the very beginnings of time, consistent in one universe but different in any other.

The other theory is, that if Spock is able to determine the quantum signature of any given object or living being in the multiverse, he might also be able, in conjunction with other data, like a person's DNA, to determine that object's or being's exact position in the multiverse. He is just looking for the right equation.

He is working on the latter problem, oblivious that the Captain is watching him.

"You know," the Captain says, "The whole temporal mechanics thing gives me a headache, but I'm pretty sure you made a mistake here."

He points the problem out on Spock's PADD.

Spock almost scoffs.

Jim is a Starship Captain. He is is very bright. Even for a Captain. He has a superior grasp of warp mechanics. But he is not a scientist. And this is Temporal Quantum Mechanics.

"I know, Spock." the Captain says, "But even you can make a mistake."

Spock checks his calculations and discovers that the Captain is right. He corrects the equation only to have the Captain show him a simpler, more elegant solution.

He looks up.

"You have been keeping things from me."

"It's just something Chekhov and I have been fiddling with."

Spock cannot believe that it is that simple. He has read the Captain's file. There are those who have called him a genius. But this…

He stares at his friend.

"Oh, come on, Spock. This was not meant as criticism. I think I know where you're going with this. Let me help."

They combine their resources and spend days immersed in quantum equations while the wind howls and the snow piles up on the mountains.

It is a new experience for Spock, who, despite his long standing relationship with Nyota, is of a solitary nature. He does not strive to be understood. And his own understanding of the woman that he loves is, as he well knows, imperfect.

He and the Captain are worlds apart and their relationship has been rife with misunderstandings. And yet, here the Captain follows him effortlessly into realms of pure mathematical thought. It is another way of communicating and Spock feels liberated.

ooo

The Captain has built a Quantum Scanner. From scratch. Spock helped, but he is not an engineer.

It is a crude instrument, likely not entirely accurate and Spock is working on calibrating it as best as possible.

The Captain, once the scanner is built, loses interest and leaves the fine-tuning and actual application up to Spock. Thirty feet of snow have accumulated and although they have air filters and the shelter is not in any danger to be crushed, he decides it's time to dig them out. He melts a tunnel to the surface, which releases a torrent of water that the phaser has trouble vaporizing. He is then greeted by a stunning vista of white, mountains bathed in bluish and purplish shadows. The river valley is an expanse of snow.

He manages, with much hard work, to free the shuttle and they do a number of surveys, to add to the data that they already have.

By the time they are finished Spock thinks he is finally getting some reliable results from the quantum scanner.

"Your and mine quantum signature are consistent with each other and with the materials of the shelter. The quantum signature of the planetary environment is different."

"That means we actually came back to the shelter our away team built and not some away team from a parallel universe."

"That is correct Captain," Spock confirms, "Unfortunately we have a third quantum signature."

The Captain feels another headache coming on.

"And that is?"

"The shuttle has a different signature. It is not from this universe and not from our own universe either. It is from somewhere else."

"Damn," the Captain exclaims. "That means it's not our shuttle."

"Exactly, Captain, it also, in all likelihood means…"

"It's not our away team either…"

Then, it begs the question whose Chekhov was lost? And where is their away team?

"How is that possible Spock?" the Captain asks, rubbing his head.

"I do not know. The instability might lie in the temporal rift itself. It is possible that it is a doorway not just to one but multiple universes. Essentially, every time you enter the rift the outcome could be different."

"Spock, I'm not encouraged. I think we made a terrible mistake sending an away team through that rift in the first place. We had no idea what we were getting into…"

The Captain is not usually second guessing himself. It is probably a symptom of cabin fever. Spock distinctly remembers that there was great enthusiasm among the crew to explore the rift and he himself had calculated the risk to be within the accepted safety parameters. The Captain would never blame him, but Spock feels that he needs to reexamine the parameters upon which he bases his did this after the debacle in Niburu's biggest volcano, but feels now that he has not been thorough enough. This is undoubtedly the Captain's unhealthy influence.

"Hey, Spock, that went pretty well! I mean, we saved the planet. And the geology department says it's stable. We did a great job. You did a great job, you saved a world!"

"Captain, may I remind you that we let a primitive society see a spaceship. They have, subsequently, abandoned their religious beliefs and now worship a white goddess that ascends from the sea. The impact on their cultural development is…"

"Spock, the anthropologists LOVE it! No, seriously, no one has ever been able to study the impact of a spacefaring on a primitive society before. It's a unique chance to learn something new. And anyway. Don't tell me that you guys had no contact at all with us before First Contact. I mean I've heard all these stories from Admiral Archer and… Hey, why are you making a face like that?"

ooo

Before they have any chance to discuss the matter at length or work more on the quantum equations that Spock thinks are their only chance to get out of what the Captain calls "this mess", he goes outside to take some more readings on the shuttle. He becomes distracted by the setting sun and permits himself a few moments of contemplation. He hears the thunder of the avalanche but before he can react it is too late.

ooo

It takes Jim half a day to locate Spock in the vast field of snow that the avalanche created. He digs down with his phaser and a shovel, but when he reaches Spock the snow is hard packed around his body. So he does the rest of the digging with his bare hands. At the end they are bleeding but he can't feel anything because they are so numb.

He drags Spock out of the hole and almost doesn't make it because he is so heavy.

By that time Jim, of course, knows that it is too late. Spock is not breathing and there is no heartbeat. Just to make sure that the tricorder is doing it's job he puts his ear against Spock's chest and listens, but there is only silence.

He then drags Spock back to the shelter, which was just outside the area of the avalanche. The antigravity float is broken. Given Spock's weight it is an almost impossible job, but he gets it done somehow.

In complete denial, he undresses Spock, rubs him dry and wraps him in several of the heated blankets. He then sits, beside the body of his First Officer; he does not know for how long.

It is several days later when the numbness that enveloped him gradually starts to recede and a brutal and all-encompassing grief surfaces.

Looking back on the seven days after Spock supposedly died, many years later, Jim has no clear recollection how he functioned or how he made it through. He will forever be grateful that nobody was there and nobody saw him.

ooo

Jim can't stay.

There is no sign that winter is letting up but one way or the other he has to get out of here. He plans to take the shuttle. Somewhere in space, that's where he wants to be.

What exactly he'll do out there he does not know. Something will come up. It always does. Maybe the temporal rift will reappear. Maybe he'll figure out what happened to his Chekhov and his away team.

It will be a problem to get Spock's body into the shuttle because the antigravity float is still broken and he doesn't feel very strong at the moment. But he'll find a way. He can't leave Spock behind because he might never find this universe again and Spock needs to go home to the Enterprise for a proper burial. Also Bones will want to do an examination of the body.

Spock's body is still wrapped in the heated blankets and when Jim approaches him he starts thinking that the whole thing is a bit weird. It is probably the first clear thought he has had all week.

Shouldn't the body have started decomposing by now? Maybe this is different for Vulcans than for humans.

Spock doesn't look dead. He's pale but there is a slight green flush to his cheeks. He looks asleep.

"Spock?" Jim asks, feeling stupid.

Of course there is no answer.

He touches Spock's cheeks and his forehead. He feels warm, but of course he would be because of the blankets.

A strange conviction arises in Jim that Spock is still alive and that if Jim manages to wake him everything will be all right.

"Spock," he says again, clapping his cheek lightly.

When there is no reaction he hits him in the face with his palm, then hits him twice more, harder.

Spock's eyes snap open and he takes a deep breath.

Jim stumbles back, almost falls and regains his balance.

"Thank you, Captain," Spock says. "It is fortunate that you know about the Healing Trance. I could have died if you hadn't woken me."

ooo

The Captain sits on the other side of the room, arms folded across his chest and watches Spock drink a cup of broth.

He is calm and composed. Maybe a bit too composed, Spock thinks. It is not like the Captain.

"I thought you were dead," he says.

Spock startles a bit.

"So you did not know about the Healing Trance?"

"Nope. Not a thing. You Vulcans are a secretive bunch. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"It is hardly my fault that you are not familiar with Vulcan physiology."

Jim's voice has a cold edge when he says:

"There is nothing about Vulcan physiology in the Federation database. I asked Bones and he said it was classified."

"You should have asked me."

"I did."

Spock searches his memory but comes up blank. Maybe a side effect of the trance.

"You said it was of no consequence. That's an expression you really like."

"I apologize, Captain. I see now that I was in error and that the information is indeed relevant. I will have it forwarded to you as soon as we are back on the Enterprise."

"Yes, you do that."

There is an uncomfortable silence. Spock has the feeling that he missed something. The Captain is obviously angry but Spock is unsure why.

He looks around. The shelter is tidy, even the usual clutter that the Captain makes when he is working on something is absent.

The Captain scratches his beard.

"Yeah," he says when Spock looks at him, "I let it grow. It was not as if anybody was looking at me."

He gets up. His clothes are rumpled as if he had slept in them and there are dark shadows under his eyes. It is likely he had a hard time this past week. They are friends, after all, and the Captain, unaware of the ability of the Vulcan body to heal itself, thought he had died.

"Jim," Spock says, and stretches out his hand.

The Captain's face seems to crumple.

"Gonna take a shower," he mumbles. "Are you gonna be all right?"

"Yes, Jim."

"You're not suddenly gonna die on me again?"

"My condition is stable," Spock says, and because somehow he has the feeling that his credibility has been called into question, he adds: "I give you my word".

ooo

The Captain is gone for a while. When he comes back his face is flushed and his eyes red. He sees that Spock has peeled himself out of the blankets and gotten dressed and some of the strain goes out of his expression. He gets a 3D chessboard from the shelves and sets it up beside Spock.

"Are you okay?"

"I am well, Captain. It will, however take me a few days to regain my full strength."

"You need anything?"

"I assure you, Captain… "

"I don't want your assurances, Spock," the Captain says. "I just need you to tell me if you need something."

"Your company and a game of chess will be sufficient."

The Captain sets up the board. For a long time there is silence and only the occasional clicking sound of a chess piece being moved.

"Do you remember, Spock, this conversation we had with Uhura? In the K'normian ship? When we were on our way to get Khan?"

Spock could never forget.

"So, when I died, just… Spock, next time something happens can you just… remember… what you felt when you saw me dead? And assume that I feel the same thing?"

34 minutes. That is how long he thought the Captain was dead.

The Captain turns a knight around and around between his fingers.

Spock is still not entirely sure what he did wrong. He is sure, however, that his Captain suffered significantly.

"I am here, Jim." he says.

ooo

In the morning the Captain is bright eyed and bushy tailed. He fusses over Spock, gets out the quantum equations and says something about building a temporal transporter.

"A temporal transporter?"

Spock raises both eyebrows.

"Yeah, you know, to get people from one universe to the other."

"Jim, you are talking about building a time machine."

The Captain looks surprised.

"Sure. If you want to put it that way. It'll work for time travel, too, of course."

Genius or no genius, the Captain has probably lost his mind.

He is, however, not at all deterred by Spock's disbelief. He gets out his and Spock's PADD and starts drawing increasingly complicated diagrams.

After four days of this, with barely some breaks for eating and sleeping he looks up at Spock in defeat.

"You know what, Spock, you're probably right. I've been getting ahead of myself. We don't need a temporal transporter right now, we just need to figure out how to reopen the rift."

"Once the rift is open we still have the problem of travelling back to the right universe."

The Captain looks at his diagrams, frowning.

"We'll worry about that when we get there."

Meanwhile Spock has been working on exactly what the Captain proposes. To reopen the rift.

He watches the Captain throw down the PADD in frustration.

"Four days of work for shit," he grumbles. "I'm going to take a nap."

While the Captain dozes off in one of the bedrooms, Spock retrieves the PADD. He knows the Captain will never amount to anything as a scientist. He has the knowledge, even the geniality , but when it comes to scientific endeavour he displays a characteristic that is completely unlike him. He loses interest, gives up and goes on to something else.

Spock carefully copies all the Captain's work to his own PADD and then synchronizes it with the shuttle's database just to make sure. He knows, left to the Captain the data will invariably get lost and when Spock requests a copy later it will be nowhere to be found. It has happened before.

ooo

The next item on the Captain's list is a temporal transponder, basically a device able to emit a concentrated tachyon beam. Neither Spock nor the Captain think it will actually be able to reopen the rift. The theory says you need at least three constitution class starship to achieve the desired effect. They don't have three starships. On the other side they have a region in space that already has a temporal fault line. It might need a lot less energy to reopen it. It is their only hope at the moment.

ooo

The Captain has mounted the temporal transponder on the underside of she shuttle. It is bigger than he hoped it would be, but he couldn't find a way around it.

Now he's sitting in the pilot seat looking pale.

They're not just missing Chekhov but a whole away team of nine crewmen.

"There is a possibility that they already found their way back," Spock says.

The Captain shakes his head.

ooo

The temporal transponder works beyond their wildest dreams.

The mouth of the rift glows in brilliant colours. Purple and green shadows play over the Captain's face.

When they enter, the shuttle shudders for a moment, drifting rapidly through a swirling mist and then, with hardly any transition they are back where they came from.

"What the…" the Captain mutters. He checks their position. It is exactly the same as when they left, the planet floating above them.

"I don't know what happened, Spock… I'm gonna go in and try again."

He starts to bring the shuttle about when Spock stops him.

"Let us check the quantum signature again."

The Captain lands the shuttle back at the shelter but it is clear even before that, that this is not the same place. When they left the world was still deep in snow. Here it is late autumn. When they descend they see the faint shapes of the ice flowers sparkling in the afternoon sun. The Captain is visibly tense when they land. The shelter seems deserted. He jumps out of the shuttle and hastens inside, mindless of any danger that might be lurking. Spock follows slower, checking the quantum signature as he goes. When he enters the shelter he stops dead. Chekhov is laid out on the floor of the living space, partly covered by a blanket. The Captain hunkers beside him, rocking back and forth slowly, one hand covering his eyes the other splayed on the young man's chest. He is crying, not making a sound.

Spock takes a deep breath and steps up to the body to scan for the quantum signature. When he is finished he puts a hand on the Captain's shoulder.

"Jim," he says, softly.

There is the sound of running steps and then… Chekhov bursts into the room. He stands glued to the threshold. The Captain gets up, spinning around as if he expects to be attacked and Chekhov exclaims: "Keptin," and launches himself into the Captain's arms.

"Pavel," the Captain cries in disbelief and folds Chekhov into his arms like a long lost child.

And Spock has time to scan the quantum signature of the new arrival, too.