Chapter 4

Thank God it's Friday, thought Christopher Pike as he stepped out of the transporter into the Riverside Police Station, nursing a cup of hot coffee and a killer headache, having spent another sleepless night at the shipyard trying to solve the mystery of the hole in the shuttle.

He wasn't particularly looking forward to the meeting he was about to have with Sheriff Kaddington, who was still dealing with a number of paranoid people who claimed to have seen Elvis return from the dead the weekend before.

He found the Sheriff standing at the end of the room, her eyes shadowed and her expression surly.

"Hello, Luce," Pike said, dully.

She grunted in reply and started heading for the door, and he fell into step beside her. It was a moment before either of them spoke.

"How goes the investigation?" asked Kaddington.

"Badly," Pike answered. He took another sip of coffee. "What's happening down here?"

"Nothing," Kaddington muttered, irritably. "A whole lot of nothing. Every teen in the area has a solid alibi. Not to mention Farmer Barrett whining about his damaged crops and Quinn calling me once an hour to say his cat's going nuts again. Probably because the idiot doesn't feed it properly. I don't know." She huffed, angrily.

"Have you considered that it might not have been a local kid out for kicks?" Pike asked.

"Oh, come on, Pike," snapped Kaddington, "You really think this is anything more than a prank?"

"We've been over this," Pike told her, in exasperation, "it can't be a prank."

"It's a prank."

"Luce—"

"I know what you'll say."

"Listen!"

Kaddington stopped in her tracks, whirling on Pike, her eyes blazing. "This discussion is over," she growled, her voice low.

Pike stared at her as she began to walk away. "…Fine," he called after her, "I have work to do."

Kaddington rounded the corner and disappeared from view.


Eight-fifteen, Friday morning.

Jim, Len, Hikaru and Scotty were sitting at the playground on top of one of the rusting antique cars, lost in conversation.

"Me mum says there's been other weird stuff happenin' all over the place," Scotty said, as he tightened a screw on another gadget of his—a small, metal object that looked like a cross between a spider and a camera.

Len was scrutinizing the leaf-strewn ground, his arms crossed against the October morning chill.

"Stuff like that doesn't just happen," he said, frowning, "I mean, we all heard that guy last Sunday. He said nobody could've done it in one night."

Jim was leaning back against the other antique car, his left arm tucked to his chest again, courtesy of his stepfather, and his fight with the new kid. He gazed distantly off toward the woods, taking in the scent of damp freshness—the kind that comes after a lot of rain.

"Did any of you guys notice the brown-haired guy's uniform?" he asked, musingly, "From Sunday?"

Len, Hikaru and Scotty all looked over at him in confusion.

"What about it?" Hikaru asked, frowning.

"It was Starfleet," Jim said.

"So?" Len questioned, "There's tons of Starfleet people around here."

"But don'tcha think it's a little weird that Starfleet's getting involved?" Jim asked them. "Think about it. Something big is going on here."

"And you won't be able to sleep until we figure out what it is," Len muttered, rolling his eyes.

Jim grinned. "Nope," he said.

Len sighed heavily, then, glancing over at his friend asked, dully, "How's your arm?"

Scotty and Hikaru exchanged nervous glances.

Jim's grin faded. "It's fine," he answered.

"Liar."

This time it was Jim rolling his eyes.

"Come on," Len said, irritably, "Let's go. Or else we'll be late."

"Let's stay for a bit longer."

"Jim, we're gonna be late."

"And you care because…?"

Len sent his friend a meaningful glance.

Jim shrugged, a slight smile curving his lips. "All right, we'll call it a vote. All in favor of staying here where it's fun and talking about the monster, raise your hand and say aye."

Scotty and Hikaru's hands shot up and both of them along with Jim cried, "Aye!"

Len huffed an exasperated sigh and threw up his arms. "What else is there to say about it?" he demanded, "It showed up in the woods, made a crop circle, and Starfleet's involved with the investigation. Big deal! Can't we talk about something else for once?"

"Like what?" Scotty asked.

"I dunno! Like how Nyota's been hanging out with the new kid, or something."

Jim, who had been gazing off toward the woods again, snapped to attention.

"What?" he demanded, his eyes widening.

Len nodded slowly. "You didn't know?" he asked.

"I've been picking up trash at recess and lunch for the past three days. How could I possibly know?" Jim looked between Hikaru, Scotty and Len. "You guys knew?"

"We've barely seen you," Hikaru said. "And when we have seen you, we've only been talking about the monster." He shrugged. "And jumping in leaf piles," he added as an afterthought.

"Why, though?"

Scotty and Hikaru exchanged confused glances.

"Why were we jumpin' in leaf piles?" Scotty questioned.

"No, why would Nyota hang out with him? After Monday, I mean?"

A small smile was beginning to appear on Len's face. "Well, face the facts, Jim," he said, with a slight shrug, "He did almost end up beating you, and Nyota never really liked you to begin with."

"Why d'ye care, Jim?" Scotty asked, bemused.

Jim went faintly pink. "I don't care," he said, defensively, "I'm just curious."

Hikaru, who had been holding back a giggle, burst into full song: "Jimmy and Nyota, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Yeah, yeah, shaddup!" Jim said, turning away and heading toward the road. "Come on, we're gonna be late!"


The four boys, although reasonably far from the school, managed to make it to class on time, if just barely, where the morning passed with minimal excitement, not just for them, but for everyone.

Jim and Spock's fight was old news by now, the shock value of the event having dissipated over the past few days, and the students of Riverside Elementary School turned to their own topics of conversation.

Eventually, Hikaru and Scotty stopped teasing Jim about Nyota, although the main cause of that was Mrs. Underwood, who shot them her usual fierce dragon glare.

At lunch, as they had done then and at morning recess for the past three days, Jim and Spock served their last day of punishment for fighting on campus—Jim picking up trash at the green tables, and Spock doing the same thing on the other side of the school. Far on the other side of the school.

Meanwhile, Len, Hikaru and Scotty were sitting under the old willow tree, bored, leaderless, and wondering what to do when they heard a screech of pain from nearby.

All three of them looked over to the source of the noise to see two fourth graders standing by the tetherball courts, one of them whimpering and clutching her nose, which had begun to bleed, the other wide-eyed and apologizing so quickly he was almost incoherent.

The girl was Christine: tiny, white-blonde, and holding her hands over her nose.

"Who's that?" Len asked, staring at the apologizing boy.

"New kid," Scotty said, nonchalantly.

"From Russia," added Hikaru.

"…Hm."

The trio watched as Christine was approached by Nyota, Gaila, and Janice, all of whom started trying to comfort her.

Hikaru and Scotty then shared a conspiratorial glance, looking first at each other and then at Len.

"Hey, Len," Hikaru said, in a sincere voice, "You should go help."

Len's head snapped around so fast that both Scotty and Hikaru were momentarily worried he would break his neck.

"What?" he hissed.

"Well, ye are good with injuries," Scotty told him, shrugging.

Len looked back at the group over by the tetherball court. "She has a bloody nose," he said, annoyed.

"Aye, but she's an extremely fragile fourth-grader with a bloody nose. It'd be nice if somebody went tae comfort her."

"Dangit, I'm a kid, not a psychiatrist! Besides, that what her friends are for."

"But none of them are good with injuries," Hikaru spoke up.

"You're saying she can't handle a bloody nose?"

"Gaila could, maybe Janice and Nyota, but nae Christine," Scotty said.

"And none of them are good with injuries," Hikaru put in.

"But—but—guys!" Len protested, "There are nurses here. You know that, right?"

"You just don't wanna help her 'cause she's little and annoying and she likes you," Hikaru said, accusingly, "Are you just not gonna help people you don't like?"

"Len!"

Len jumped at the sound of his name, and looked up to see Gaila waving him over.

He glared briefly at Hikaru and Scotty who raised their eyebrows as if to say, Go on!, and then stood and started walking over to the group of kids, where Janice had put a hand around Christine's shoulders, and Nyota was trying to tell the Russian new kid that it was okay; it was an accident.

"Hey," Nyota said, noticing Len, smiling wearily.

"Hi," Len answered, trying to smile and managing a grimace.

"I know you don't like her much," she continued in a low voice, pulling him aside, "but could you…y'know…come with us to the nurse's office? Tell her to tilt her head back or something? It'd mean the world to her."

Len shot her an incredulous look. "She'll get the wrong idea!" he said in protest, "Nyota…"

"Please?" Nyota implored him with her eyes.

"I…but…" Len glanced over at Christine, who was still whimpering pathetically.

Janice, her arm around Christine's shoulders, looked expectantly back at him.

"Okay, fine," Len said in defeat, his shoulders slumping.

Christine, annoying as she was, was another person in the wide world of people in need of medical attention, and Len wasn't about to make exceptions, even for her.

The guys are gonna give me hell for this, he thought, resignedly as he stepped over to Christine and Janice.

"Um…" he began, hesitantly, "Christine?" He bent over a little to try and lessen their difference in height.

Christine blinked away a couple of tears and looked up at Len, her pale blue eyes widening and a slight flush creeping up her cheeks, which of course only made the blood flow more.

"Leonard?" she asked, in a quivery voice.

Len tried not to cringe as she called him by his full name.

"Can you do something for me?" he asked, feeling as if he'd begun to dig himself a grave, "Can you plug your nose and tilt your head back a little bit?"

Christine nodded and did so, pinching her nose with her thumb and forefinger and tipping her face skyward.

"Is that better?" he asked.

She half-nodded, her nose still pointed up in the air.

" 'Kay," he said, forcing a smile, "Let's get you to the nurse's office."

Christine half-nodded again and they started off across the blacktop, followed by Janice, Gaila, a beaming Nyota, and the Russian new kid.

From their seat beneath the willow tree, Hikaru and Scotty slapped hands, grinning broadly.

"He's gonna hate us for that, you know," Hikaru said, grinning.

"Aye, so let's make sure we deserve it first!" Scotty laughed.


Nyota sighed wearily as Pavel tried to apologize to her yet again as they stepped into the front office, Christine, Len and Janice in the lead.

"Pavel, it's okay," she told him for the umpteenth time, glancing up at Len, who looked like he wanted to smack himself upside the head.

She felt a little guilty for asking him to come with them, but then again, at the very least, Christine would be happy.

Well, Nyota rephrased the thought in her mind, she'll be ecstatic.

She turned her gaze to the end of the room where a familiar figure stood, holding a bulging bag of trash and talking to one of the yard duties.

"Spock!" she called, smiling at him.

Since Tuesday, Spock and Nyota had in fact been hanging out, but not nearly as much as Len and the other boys thought. Spock had managed, after several hours of forced rehearsal, to speak to her again, and to apologize for not thanking her properly. After that they had talked twice before school.

Spock glanced over and nodded to her once before returning his attention to the yard duty.

"I'll see you after school," she told him, before following Christine, Pavel, Janice and Gaila toward the nurse's office.

Len hung back, letting them pass, looking harassed and embarrassed. "Um…" he mumbled to Nyota as she approached, "I think I'm gonna take off, okay?"

Nyota smiled at him. "Thanks," she said, gratefully, "I owe you one."

Len stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I know," he groaned.

Nyota grinned and followed her friends out of the room.

Wonderful, Len thought, dully, as he started for the door. Now I get to be ridiculed by the guys and harassed by Christine.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice as the door abruptly swung open ahead of him.

"Hey!" Len jumped out of the way to avoid swift incapacitation.

Jim, who was now entering, carrying his own bag of trash, shot him a bemused look. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story," Len muttered, darkly, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm done," Jim answered, grinning. "Finally. Took long enough. Did I get here before he did?"

"Who? The new kid? Spock?"

"Yeah."

Len glanced toward the back of the office, and Jim followed his gaze to see the new kid talking with the yard duty.

"…Oh," Jim said, seeming to deflate slightly. He looked away for a moment, then grabbed Len by the arm and pulled him aside as two young student teachers walked by, discussing something in hushed, serious voices.

"All this crop circle stuff has me worried, "the tall, thin one was saying, flipping her curly blonde hair over her shoulder, "My parents work on one of the farms way out there in the hills. You know. Near the shipyard."

"I heard something happened over there, but the cops aren't telling us," the other, a stocky woman with short black hair answered, "So apparently Starfleet's involved."

"There's some kind of meeting going on in town at the Russian Embassy," the tall blonde woman told her friend, "This Saturday night. Some kind of open house. I don't know what's going on, but I heard Christopher Pike will be there."

"You mean that commander at the shipyard? The guy always walking around in that black uniform downtown? He's cute."

Len and Jim exchanged glances as the two women started to talk about the various cute Starfleet guys they had seen in bars around town.

Before either of the boys could say a word, however, a voice sounded from behind:

"Jim!"

Jim and Len turned to see the yard duty standing there.

"Gotta go," Jim said, quietly, heading towards her.

"See ya after school," Len called, walking backwards toward the door.

"See ya," Jim answered.


After school.

Mother…where are you? Spock thought, more anxiously than he cared to admit as he stood behind the fifth and sixth grade buildings in front of the parking lot.

His mother was late. She had never been late before. It was unprecedented. She was always punctual, always making time for her son. Spock couldn't understand what was holding her up.

"Hey," called a familiar voice.

Spock turned to see Nyota walking toward him.

He felt butterflies in his stomach, for some unknown reason, as he had before when he'd spoken to her on Monday, and then before school on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Hello," he said, trying to manage a smile, even though it was completely illogical and he had no idea why he was doing it.

"You waiting for somebody?" she asked, walking over to him.

"My mother," he answered. "She is late. I do not know why, but…well…"

He trailed off.

"She probably just got held up," Nyota told him.

"It is likely, though it has not happened before."

They fell silent for a moment, and then Nyota spoke again. "You really are worried, aren't you?"

Spock looked at her, raising one eyebrow. "Is that not considered normal?"

"No, it is, it's just that…well…I've never met anybody so thoughtful. Anybody else would just assume that she was late," Nyota told him kindly, smiling shyly.

There was another short silence, and then she spoke again: "Will you teach me to speak Vulcan?"

Spock, slightly taken back by this, stared at her. "I…suppose," he said, "…Why, though?"

Nyota shrugged. "I like learning languages," she replied. "It makes me feel less ordinary."

"I do not think you are ordinary," Spock blurted out. He flushed emerald, realizing what he'd just said.

Nyota giggled. "Thanks," she said.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Spock looked away.

"Um. Well," he began, starting to pace along behind the building, Nyota at his side, "First, you should know that Vulcan is not an easy language to learn. Do you have experience with phonetic languages?"

"I'm learning Mandarin Chinese," she said, modestly, "Does that compare?"

Spock raised his eyebrows. Mandarin Chinese was one of the most difficult languages to learn on Earth, aside from English, which she obviously knew.

"It does…" he answered, "…how many languages are you studying?"

"Four now, with Vulcan. Mandarin, Arabic and French. But I already speak English, Russian and Swahili."

Spock stared at her. "Which was your first?" he asked.

"Swahili," she said, "and Russian. Sort of at the same time."

She learned two languages at once, then mastered the hardest language on the planet, is working on Mandarin, Arabic and French, and now wants to learn Vulcan! Spock's mouth gaped open slightly, and he immediately shut it.

"That is…very impressive," he said.

"Thanks," Nyota answered, staring at her feet, smiling.

"How did you learn Swahili and Russian at the same time?" Spock asked her.

"Well," she began, "My dad was the Kenyan ambassador to Russia when I was little. We used to move back and forth between countries, so I learned both. What about you?"

"Me?" he stared at her in confusion.

"You speak both English and Vulcan," she said.

"Oh." Of course, he thought. "Since English is the most commonly spoken language on the planet, many Vulcan children are taught to speak it. That, and my mother speaks English. And Vulcan. She and my father speak both languages as he is the Vulcan ambassador to Earth and…well…it was logical."

"How come you came here? To Iowa?" Nyota questioned, "It's not exactly big on the interstellar scale."

Spock thought about it. "…I do not exactly know," he said, frowning. "My parents have not adequately explained it to me. I suppose it is because there are many Starfleet installations nearby, but…I do not really know."

"Odd," Nyota commented.

Then: "Can I touch your ears?" she asked.

Spock stopped walking and stared at her, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Sorry," Nyota apologized, looking embarrassed, "You don't have to."

"…You can, if you want," he said, hesitantly, pulling off his beanie to reveal his hair and ears.

To his immense relief, she did not laugh or even mention his awful haircut, but simply reached up and ran her fingers along the slight curve of one of his pointed ears.

Her fingers were soft, he reflected. And warm. At least, in the chilly air they were.

Nyota glanced at his face. "Sorry," she said, guiltily, "Do you want me to stop?"

"I dunno about you guys, but I think she should," growled an angry—and familiar—voice.

Nyota jumped, withdrawing her hand from Spock's ear. Both of them whirled around to see none other than Tobias approaching them.

This time, he wasn't alone.

Four more boys just as tall and, in some cases, as muscular, stood behind Tobias, all of them leering at Spock.

Tobias was no longer the simple bully he had been on Monday at lunch. Now there was real hate in his eyes, his mouth a tight, furious line as he advanced on Spock and Nyota.

"Stay away from humans, you green little son of a whore," the bully snarled, "You don't belong here. And you never will."

"Go jump off a cliff, you jerk!" Nyota shouted. "Come on, Spock. He's just a big waste of flesh with crap for brains."

"No," Spock said, calmly.

Nyota stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" she demanded, her dark eyes growing wide.

"No," Spock repeated. "Leave me alone," he told Tobias, "or you will regret it."

Tobias laughed, and this time his laugh wasn't a stupid guffaw, but a guttural wolf's howl.

Spock took a deep breath. He was outnumbered, but a slow, pulsing anger had begun to rise in him, an anger that fueled a single thought in his mind:

If I do not defend myself now, they will never stop.

"Spock!" Nyota protested, "There's five of them! You're going to get smashed to a bloody pulp!"

"You bet that's what's gonna happen," Tobias agreed.

"Spock, don't do it!" Nyota pleaded.

You called my mother a whore, Spock thought, his anger rising, You will not do so again.

"Get 'im, boys!"


Jim, Len, Hikaru and Scotty were standing by the cafeteria, hands in pockets, all of them grinning, completely relaxed.

"An' so then," Scotty was saying, "th' idiot ties the jump rope ta the glider, right? And he tries tae swing across on it. An' he goes: 'Wheeeeeeee! Me Tarzan!'"

Hikaru burst out laughing.

Len and Jim exchanged glances, both of them smiling. Scotty always had great recess stories to tell, and normally all four of them would've been laughing uproariously, but the two best friends hadn't told Hikaru and Scotty about the student teachers in the office at lunch, although Jim had gotten the full scoop on Len's reason for being at the nurse's office in the first place. (Len knew he was never going to live it down.)

"An' then," Scotty could hardly speak coherently now, tears of hilarity pouring out of his eyes, "he starts screamin', '!'"

Hikaru looked like he was having trouble breathing, he was laughing so hard.

Jim snorted a little, and turned toward the blacktop, noticing a pretty, dark-skinned girl sprinting toward them from the parking lot: Nyota.

"Run, Ny, run!" he shouted at her, playfully, "Where's your Vulcan boyfriend?"

"Go to hell, Kirk!" she spat at him as she ran past.

"Ooooooh, buuuuurn!" Len, Hikaru and Scotty chorused as Jim slapped a hand over his heart, pretending to be affronted.

All four of them were laughing now, Scotty and Hikaru still in hysterics over Tarzan.

"She's mad at you, man," Len told Jim, grinning.

"She's always mad at me," Jim answered, "Hey, I wonder where Tobias is. The other day he kept threatening to come beat me up again."

"He's a coward," Len said, simply, shrugging.

"Oh, jeez…that was awesome!" Scotty howled, clutching at his sides.

Jim and Len started to laugh again, slightly.

"It was," Jim agreed, "Wonder where she's running off to."

"What the heck was that green stuff on her face?" Hikaru snorted.

Len's smile faded abruptly as he remembered something someone had said after Jim and Spock's fight.

Jeez, how did they get grass stains all the way over here?

I'm gonna remember that 'till I die!

Slowly, a look of horror came over his face as he realized exactly where Tobias and his gang were.

"What?" Jim asked, his own smile fading as he noticed Len's distress. "Len, what's wrong?"

Len looked Jim in the eye. "Spock's blood," he said at once, "It's Spock's blood."

Jim's eyes went wide. His smile disappeared.

Then he turned and ran full tilt toward the parking lot.

"Jim, no!" Len shouted.

But it was too late. Jim was long gone.


Spock bit back a gasp of pain as he blocked a heavy blow from one of Tobias's cronies. True, he was far stronger than an average human boy, but the gang attacking him were all bigger—and most of them stronger—than he was, not to mention the fact that it was five to one.

An unfair fight, he thought, darting out of the way as a large fist flew at his head, But people fight differently here, as I have learned. Or at least, should have learned.

Then, before he even realized what was happening, someone landed a punch squarely in his face.

Spock felt his lip split and his teeth shake, warm blood pouring into his mouth.

He staggered back a few paces and felt hands close tightly around his arms. He struggled to get loose, but couldn't move. Tobias stood before him, wearing a triumphant smirk.

"Go back to Vulcan, you little bastard freak," he snarled.

"You first," Spock answered, and spat green blood at the bully's feet.

Tobias rolled up his sleeve and drew back his fist to strike.

And then, before anyone knew what had happened, Tobias was staggering to the side, having been tackled by a short, skinny, blond boy who instantly started beating the bully upside the head as hard as he could.

Spock took advantage of his captors' surprise and drove his elbows into their stomachs, lashing violently back at them. To his own surprise, they let go immediately, and he managed to back away just in time to see his vicious rescuer being thrown off Tobias's back and stumbling toward him.

Spock's eyes went wide.

It was his opponent from Monday.

Their eyes met for a split second, but there wasn't time to talk, as two more of the bullies rushed at them again.

Spock's mind was racing as he defended himself—and the boy did the same, with equal success.

I thought he hated me, he thought, ducking beneath a punch. He beat me in a fight. Why is he here? Helping me?

Flashes of his fight from Monday whipped through his mind as he blocked another blow from one of the bullies.

He was still outnumbered, but at least now he had someone on his side.


Ten minutes later: the principal's office.

Spock felt exceedingly confused. He and his blond rescuer were sitting across from one another in the small hallway, both of them bloody and silent, while Tobias and his gang were undoubtedly spinning off some far-fetched tale about their complete innocence in the matter.

What exactly had just happened? Spock wondered. It wasn't quite clear to him yet. The gang had come and attacked him, and he had defended himself. At some point, Nyota had run off, probably to alert a teacher. Then the blond boy had come and fought with him, and they had won.

But why?

Spock snuck a glance at the ceiling, holding a gauze patch to his scraped arm.

Well, said a voice in his head, there is only one way to find out.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

The boy looked back at him, blinking. "Do what?" he questioned.

"Why did you come help me?"

The boy shrugged. " 'Cause they were beating the crap out of you."

"But…I thought you hated me."

The boy sighed and stared across the room at the opposite window. "Look, it's…well…I dunno," he said, unhelpfully. "I guess it's 'cause…Tobias and his gang are just a bunch of jerks who think they can push around whoever they want. And you and me, we're the only ones who actually went and stood up to 'em, fists and all, right?"

Spock blinked. "I suppose," he said.

"And then there's also the fact that we're outcasts," the boy continued. "You're new, and I'm, well…you know."

No…not really, Spock thought, but listened.

"Outcasts should stick together," he finished, with a shrug.

"…I suppose we should," Spock answered, nodding in agreement, though still very confused.

But deep down, he knew the boy was speaking the truth. He'd been an outcast all his life—tainted with human blood on Vulcan, and now completely different here on Earth.

The boy took a deep breath. "Guess we should reintroduce ourselves, then, seeing as how Monday didn't really work out so well." He cracked an unexpected grin, then spat in his hand and thrust it out at Spock. "I'm Jim," he said, "Jim Kirk."

Spock stared blankly at Jim's outstretched hand, his mouth slightly agape.

"What?" Jim asked.

"…Um. Nothing," Spock answered, in an attempt to sound collected. He spat in his own hand, wincing slightly, and took Jim's, shaking it once and then letting go. "I am Spock."

"Spock," Jim said, grinning. "Cool name."