New Vulcan Generations

by LusciousNesha

Set three years after Illogical Progression not a required read for this fic, however , Spock and Nyota, as husband and wife embark upon a new adventure together - parenthood. But, will things from their pasts and their surroundings make things easier or harder for them to take this journey together?

7. In Command

In Command

Lt. Uhura glanced over at her husband, Commander Spock as he monitored his readings of the nearby planet. He had hardly looked at her once all day, and it was bothering her so much that she had looked at him repeatedly. This was how he reacted sometimes when things were not as well as they should be in their personal lives. He would simply retreat into himself, as though she was not even there. It made her crazy, because it gave her a sense of wanting to be inside of his head. She took a deep breath and for the first time, since their earlier disagreement, he looked in her direction. The sound had alarmed him, although he did not seem alarmed.

"Are you well, Lt. Uhura?" He asked, masking the concern in his voice as simple courtesy. She shrugged her shoulders and turned her chair to where her back was facing him. Now, although she was not looking at him, she knew that he would be looking at her. She checked over her shoulder and it was confirmed. He was watching her, as though he thought that something dramatic might take place with her momentarily. She faced her console and sighed again, rubbing her swollen belly as she did.

Earlier, Spock had walked into the room while she was readying herself for work. He had been on the bridge for several hours already and came back to the room specifically to interrogate Styik about a situation. The door slid open and Spock approached the boy, as he worked on a computer assignment, and Spock asked in what she thought to be an accusatory tone, "Is there something that you did on last night that we should know about?"

Nyota stopped brushing her hair and looked at the two of them interact. Styik did not turn his eyes away from the computer screen as he stated, "Your question is vague, Guardian Spock." He began to type something on his keyboard, then the computer began to talk to him. Spock walked over and shut the lid of the computer. Styik sighed and said, "I will have to begin that assessment again, Guardian."

Now, Nyota felt herself grow slightly angry, while she was confused as well, and she asked, "What is it that Styik has supposedly done, Spock?"

Spock said, "I am speaking with him about it, Nyota. There is no need for you to interfere." Her anger peaked. Now, she did not care what Styik had done or had not. Now, she was angry that her husband attempted to dismiss her from the disciplining of their adopted son.

"Excuse me, Commander, if my concern for my child is an interference with your accusations!" She snapped.

Spock simply looked at her and said, "Nyota, the time that it would take me to explain your misinterpretation of my statement would be wasted in the face of my fatherly duty to Styik. Please, do not interrupt any further."

Sometimes, she found it terribly hard to believe that he did not realize what he was doing when he spoke to her in that way. He must have realized that this would warrant a severe reaction, especially with her now being seven months pregnant and constantly moody. She walked over to him, as quickly as her huge belly would allow, and stated, sternly, "The last time that I checked, Styik had two parents, Spock. And I don't know why it is a surprise to you that I would become involved when you walk in here, like your are in Commander mode, accusing him instead of simply talking to him, like a father to his son! Then you just dismiss my words as though I am some passerby who decided to open her mouth with an opinion while you were handling your own personal business?"

Spock stated, "It is crucial to me to resolve the matter with our son in a timely fashion as I must return to the bridge for work. If you insist on causing a disturbance, I must order you to report to the bridge immediately for duty."

She laughed out loud, although she did not find a thing funny. Spock had become somewhat accustomed to this reaction from her. The angry laugh, she called it... laughing to keep from screaming at him. She stopped laughing, but could not immediately cut off the frozen smile as she asked, "Did you just pull rank on me to disregard me from a personal problem within our home life as it relates to our son?"

"Lt. Uhura, report to the bridge for duty." Spock commanded. He had warned her, and she had continued. He knew that she was mad and probably would become even madder, but he needed to settle the disciplinary issue, and she was doing nothing but obstructing his efforts.

She fumed and said, "Yes, Commander!" She snatched up her black ballet slippers from the nightstand and marched, barefoot towards the bridge, in her red maternity Starfleet blouse and a black maternity knee length skirt. Once on the bridge, she snapped, "Chekov, help me with these slippers." It was an order, not a request. She sat down and tossed the slippers to the floor near her feet. He quickly rushed over to help her with them. She could slip her feet into them, but she could not reach down to secure them on her feet without losing her breath. She kept asking Dr. McCoy if he was sure there was only one baby in her, as she was so big, but he claimed that he was absolutely sure. She dreaded the thought of how big this Vulcan was going to be by the time it was time to push him out. She softened her voice and tried to soften her eyes as she said, "Thank you, Pavel." She placed her ear piece in her ear and turned to her console.

"Is this about Styik's shenanigans?" Chekov asked. At that moment, it occurred to her that she had become so mad at Spock that she did not even know what it was that Styik was about to be scolded for.

She calmly asked, "What shenanigans, specifically?"

"He is said to have disassembled the on ship training consoles. Mr. Scott believes that it may take several days to reassemble them, and the captain was going to have training conducted on today. Commander Spock was not pleased when he reviewed the footage of the training facility. I tried to make it better by pointing out that Styik disassembled the consoles in record time, but I believe that I actually made it worse."

Nyota covered her face with one hand and said, "I never know what to expect from that boy. How many consoles did he disassemble?"

"Eight. He did manage to reassemble most of one of them before he realized that he needed more training on the subject and went to go study the available information on his computer." Chekov chuckled as he said the last part of the statement.

She uncovered her face and asked, "He decided to use the training room to test out how easily he could disassemble and reassemble consoles?"

"Seemed so." he answered, unable to keep himself from smiling.

"Why did he not just use one console?" She asked.

"Styik is a high achiever. He was probably trying to impress Commander Spock. I have a feeling that the desired effect did not occur." Chekov observed out loud.

She opened her mouth to answer, but when Spock appeared on the bridge, Chekov quickly rushed away from her console and back to his own seat.

As Spock took his seat, Nyota asked, "What happened between you and Styik after I left?"

Spock did not turn her way as he merely responded, "That is a discussion that should not currently be held, as both of us have work to do, Lieutenant." She waited for him to glance at her, to gage her reaction or simply to assure her that nothing was too wrong, but when he did not, and avoided daring any glances for the greater portion of the start of her shift, she became bothered about it.

By the time she began to sigh, Spock seemed somewhat collected, though now concerned. He offered, "Lt. Uhura, if you require a short break, I can get another officer to man your station for you." He said to the back of her head. She turned in her seat and smiled weakly at him. When she did, she saw a flush of relief wash over his features. "Do you require a short break?"

"Could you take one with me?" She asked. He lifted his eyebrow and found a replacement for her station, then told Kirk that he would be returning shortly, after having the chance to convene with the Lieutenant.

"Is she alright?" Kirk asked. Uhura was now waiting by the doorway of the bridge and when Kirk looked at her, she forced a smile. Kirk, assuming he knew her look, and it meant possible trouble, said, "Just tell her that she is right. Whatever she says, agree with her and tell her that she is right in saying whatever she says. I know that look, and if you disagree, no more peace for a while. You want peace. Tell her that she is right, and hurry back, we'll need to assemble a landing party within the next fifteen minutes, and I want to know exactly what your readings show on this planet before we go down to it." Spock nodded in acknowledgment and went to meet up with Nyota.

She started the conversation by saying, "Pavel told me about what Styik did. I apologize for how I handled you in front of him. I know that you don't like to be accosted when you're disciplining him, but your tone with him was what I believe to be inappropriate.."

"You are correct. My tone was inappropriate. I found myself temporarily angry with him. Styik is now helping Mr. Scott and the others reassemble the consoles and will do so until I go to retrieve him."

"Pavel thinks that Styik was just trying to impress you. You are his father figure and you can do so much and you are so important to this ship, to Starfleet, to New Vulcan... He may just be overwhelmed and feel that he needs to go to extremes to win your attention, especially as the baby gets closer to being born."

Spock did not miss a beat in responding, "Styik will have to learn to control his feelings of inadequacy. I have assured him and reassured him of my support in his proper behavior and of my positive opinion of his academic and skillful accomplishments."

Feeling like she might have been approaching the subject wrong, she attempted another explanation, "Yes, I know. You are very supportive and encouraging with him, but you also can handle him in an offensive way from time to time, like earlier..."

"I handled the situation in the most logical way that I could," Spock stated.

Now, she took a deep breath. He noticed her nostrils flare. He had disagreed with her, despite the captain's advice. Disagreeing with an incorrect party came so naturally to him that he had not considered the effect it may have until after it was already done. She began a stern, frustrated whisper, "In the past couple of months, he has had to stop being as affectionate with me as he was allowed to be the first few months, because you are always worried about him touching my womb. He can't sleep in the bed with me. He does not get as much cuddle time. You do not make up for the affection that you have restricted for him."

"His need of affection so frequently must be brought to an end." Spock said. There it was again – naturally disagreeing with her.

"It has been brought to an end, and that's precisely why there are no damned training consoles in operation right now!" She stormed back towards the bridge, but Spock caught her arm. She looked down at his hand on her and up at his face with a look of rage.

"I am sorry, Nyota," He whispered. "You are right. I will try to put into practice what I have learned from you today." She rolled her eyes, but he knew that her anger had melted away.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek, "I know that you're just saying that because Captain Kirk probably told you to do it to keep me from being mad, but at least you are trying not to make me mad, which is more than I can say for how you treated me earlier."

"I apologize for that, as well." She stroked his face, then returned to the bridge. Chekov passed them on his way off of the bridge. Uhura sighed. She hated when their shifts conflicted, as they seemed to do more and more these days. She would have no one to talk to if there was down time. She secretly hoped for a little action, so that she did not have to become too bored.

Lt. Uhura was quite good at monitoring the frequencies while paying direct attention to the audible conversations held by Kirk and Spock, near the captain's chair. When she returned to her chair, she locked the chair into place at the station, where it would not move if hit by turbulence, an addition that Kirk insisted be placed at her console when she began to show, and she strapped herself into the seat. She could no longer turn her seat, but she turned her head towards the two men as Spock reported, "The facts do not fit any known categories of planets. The age of the planet seems only a few thousand years, but it would be impossible for vegetation to evolve in so short a period. The size of the planet is approximately the size of Earth's moon, but the mass and atmosphere is similar to Earth's."

Kirk replied with, "That would be difficult to explain."

"It would be impossible." Spock corrected, as he himself could not figure any logical way to explain the mysterious planet that they were approaching. He added, "An atmosphere could not evolve in so short a period of time."

"And yet it has," Kirk observed.

Spock now replied, "Evidently, but the inconsistencies are so compounded as to present a seemingly impossible phenomenon."

"But a fascinating one, Mr. Spock?" Kirk guessed.

Spock lifted an interested eyebrow and nodded his head slightly as he responded, "Precisely, Captain."

After a few minutes, Captain Kirk took crew members Lt. Sulu, Chief Geologist – Dr. D'Amato, and Dr. McCoy as the landing party. Generally, Kirk felt a lot better when he had Spock on the surface with him, but when Uhura got passed what Kirk call the "proven safe period" of her pregnancy (the period of time she had already passed previously without losing the child), Kirk decided that it would be the most decent thing to do, to keep Spock on the ship in command, in case something happened while he was off of the ship. Spock decided against pointing out to him, again, that there were certain regulations against both of them being off of the ship at the same time anyway. He definitely wanted to be on the ship with her, close enough at all times to assist her if needed and to support her if something did happen to go wrong.

Spock accompanied the landing party to the transporter room as Kirk gave him the last few orders that he wished for him to follow through on, "Since there are no reported lifeforms on the planet from your science station, when we collect the samples, I'll have them sent up to you as we go. I would rather you personally handle these things, Mr. Spock. The plants, the water, the dirt, all of it."

Spock replied, "The science officers in the lab are more than capable, Captain. Besides, you have the senior Geologist accompanying you. Surely, he is more qualified than I to do this business." It simply did not make sense for Captain Kirk to want him to do these things that he was requesting.

Kirk answered, "I know, but I need to have some type of deep connection between you and this mission. This is the first time that I'm going to the surface without you."

"Of this fact, Captain, I am well aware. I will follow the orders as you have placed them."

Scotty entered the transporter room, as the transporter room operator of the moment set the levels on the transporter to beam down the landing party to the surface of this planet.

Scotty said, "Mr. Spock, I wanted to ask you if we could allow the boy a wee break. He does not seem to want to stop unless he hears it specifically from your own mouth."

Spock bowed to the landing party and stated, "I have some business to attend to with my son." Kirk nodded his head and Scotty left the transporter room with Spock.

Captain Kirk stated, "Energize" and the officer made the necessary movements to beam the landing party to the surface of the planet. As they began to dematerialize, a beautiful woman appeared before them, in the room calling out, "Wait, you must not go!" She turned to the officer and reached out her hand to touch his skin. When she did, the landing party saw him fall to the ground, but it was too late... they were already heading for the planet.

As they walked down the hall, Scotty looked at Spock and said, "Mr. Spock, does it feel weird for you, not going with them, and all?"

"Feel weird, Mr. Scott? Firstly, you are well aware that emotions are not a state of being that Vulcans adhere to. Secondly, the word "weird" does not encompass any specific emotion, therefore even if this mission did illicit some type of emotional reaction within me, your question would still be insufficient for me to answer."

Scotty shrugged. His exchanges with Spock usually went just as this one. "Just asking if maybe you felt like you should be down there with them."

"Mr. Scott, your fixations on emotional response is quite tiresome." Spock walked into the training room to see Styik diligently working beneath one of the consoles, with tools in his hand.

"Styik," He called. The boy paused and looked at him with lit up eyes. Spock was surprised that the child was not mad at him for making him work on his mistakes. "You may go back to our quarters. Clean yourself up and resume your studies. Perhaps Mr. Scott will have you for assistance again on tomorrow."

Scotty nodded his head and said, "I'll have him any time he wishes to assist. That lad of yours would make for a fine engineer."

Spock stated, "I believe that Styik has the propensity to excel beyond all expectations in any occupation that he may choose." Styik emerged from beneath the console with his heart swollen at Spock's compliment. Spock did not usually compliment him in the presence of others. Styik fought the urge to smile, worried that a smile at this point might make Spock embarrassed in front of Mr. Scott.

Scotty said, "I presume that he'll be attempting at a career as a science officer, like his father?"

The question was posed to Styik, but Spock replied to it with, "I would not presume such a thing, Mr. Scott. Styik has adopted Mr. Chekov as a role model and has taken quite an interest in tactical work."

Styik put away his tools as he corrected, "Actually, Guardian Spock, I plan to work in neuroscience. I believe that I have a life mission. I am going to pursue neurology and psychiatric work. Perhaps I can discover a way to help Grandmother Ashaki. All of the other sciences and knowledge that I am obtaining is strictly for purposes of entertaining myself while on this vessel, and conditioning my mental growth."

Spock fought the urge to grin, but knew that the urge had won when Styik's expression beamed with pride, and he ventured a bit of a partial smile, himself. Spock quickly wiped the look from his own face, but Scotty had noticed it and said, "You must be even more extraordinary than I even thought you to be. Not even Lt. Uhura has ever made him smile in front of me."

The intercom sounded, it was Lt. Uhura announcing, "Mr. Spock, you are needed to the bridge, please. Spock to the bridge."

Spock pointed at Styik and said, "Report to our quarters at once." Styik nodded and rushed down the hallway as Spock and Scotty went in the opposite direction towards the bridge.

"So, does it make you feel weird when a voice sounds through the whole ship calling your name and it is the very voice of your own wife? It seems that there would sometimes be a sense of..." Spock gave him a silencing look and Scotty quieted himself as they continued.

Scotty bothered Spock. He had been bothering him for months, since leaving New Vulcan, in fact. Nyota had made the mistake of telling Scotty, Sulu and Chekov that in the other universe that the time travelers were from that she and Scotty were together, in their old age when she died. It was a common practice of hers and Kirk's to share what information they found out about their alternate selves from Ambassador Spock with the rest of the crew. Spock felt no need to do such a thing, and after Nyota's mistake knew exactly why it was such a bad idea to do so.

Since then, Mr. Scott had been asking Spock if this thing or that thing made him "feel weird". The fact that in another life his wife was with the engineer was the first in the line of questioning. Scott had asked, "Mr. Spock, it is odd enough that you see yourself from the future each time you visit the place. That'd make me have the willies enough. But, doesn't it make you feel a wee bit weird to know that in some other life, I had the lovely lady you now have as a wife?"

"An alternate version of yourself and an alternate version of her were joined together in an emotional attachment. Those events should have no effect on you here and now, Mr. Scott." Had been his answer, but in honesty, it did make him uncomfortable.

He was uncomfortable, because he knew that in both realities, he had loved Nyota. It made him wonder, sometimes about Mr. Scott. He quickly pushed the discomfort from his mind, but each time that Scotty questioned him about what made him feel weird, i.e, "that your adopted son is the stepson of your rogue brother", "that Chekov is closer to your family than you are", "that you're not going down to the surface with them"...each question made him think of the first. And every time, he walked away from Scotty, actually feeling weird. He could not describe the discomfort that the engineer placed within him, without even trying to do so, but the man did.

Spock returned to the bridge, collecting himself, first. Upon reaching the captain's chair, before having the time to even sit, the ship began to shake violently and several crew members were tossed about on the bridge. Spock bumped his head on the arm of the chair, but when the shaking stopped, his first concern was to check on Nyota. She was secured in her locked chair, which brought him a sense of relief, though he had to admit that the violent shaking made him worry about his son in her womb. She looked over at him, breathing harder than usual, and offered, "We are okay, how about you, Commander?"

He checked the back of his head and said, "I believe that no permanent damage was done."

"What happened?" She asked from her seat.

Spock answered, "The occipital portion of my head seems to have impacted with the arm of the chair." She stared at him, only for a moment. My poor somehow clueless genius husband.

She clarified, "No, what happened to the ship?"

"That we have yet to ascertain." He responded. The Lieutenant who had taken Sulu's place on the bridge pointed to the screen and suddenly exclaimed, "Mr. Spock, the planet's gone!"

On the surface of the planet, the violent shaking attacked, as well. The men toppled over trying to keep their footing. It wasn't working out, but thankfully, the earthquake stopped after a few moments. Kirk and the others looked around at each other trying to figure out what was going on. Upon bouncing their confusion off of each other, Sulu realized that the ship was gone.

Kirk was trying to reach the ship via communicator, but upon noticing that the contraption did not work, he said, "The disturbance must have messed up the communicator." Sulu looked at his instrument and proclaimed, "The Enterprise is gone!"

All of the men looked at each other as they came to a horrible realization. They were stranded on this mysterious planet. Kirk immediately began to give orders. They needed to find food and water. They needed to test the vegetation on the planet and figure out what could be used for their survival. He separated the group with different assignments and they all got started.

Lt. Uhura began the damage control report, telling Spock, "Ship functioning normally, many bumps and bruises... one casualty – the transporter officer is dead."

Spock lifted his attention from the science station and questioned, "Dead?" He walked over to the captain's seat to contact the medical bay. The doctor informed him that they were not yet aware of the cause of death for the man, but that an autopsy was being performed. Spock ordered a full report as soon as it was ready. He also ordered Scotty to check the transporter for any malfunctions.

Uhura took the time that Spock was venturing the bridge giving out orders to use the intercom to contact Styik, "Styik, come in."

"Yes, Mother?" He responded.

She smiled when she heard his voice. He sounded just fine. He would, of course. With each day, she saw him becoming more and more Vulcan. It did not bother her too much, but she liked him to be himself and she somehow felt that he was becoming what he thought that Spock would have him to be. She did not want to think about it currently as she asked, "Are you well, my child?"

He softly replied, "I am fine. I reached the quarters shortly before the turbulence and only received a few slight bumps because of it. Guardian Spock will not be pleased with you for checking on me in what is clearly a time of emergency, on the bridge."

"He will be fine. I needed to know that you were alright." She told him.

"I am." He replied.

They ended their communication and Uhura told Spock, "Styik is alright." Spock merely looked at her when she said it, but she saw in his face that he was relieved.

Spock began an exchange with the helms woman, that Nyota found it difficult to hear as clearly as other things, because of where her station was in relation to the woman's. Despite the fact that she could not hear, she knew that if she got out of her straps, or her seat at a time when they did not know what could happen to the ship that Spock would scold her in front of the bridge crew for endangering herself or the child. She hated when he did such things, so she had made a habit of staying in her secured, strapped seat for entire assignments, as to not bring the treatment about.

From what she could hear, the woman said something about the stars being wrong and Spock concluded that a positional change had taken place. Uhura turned as much as she could to see what they were going on about and when she did, she could hear what the people were saying. The woman had concluded that in a flash the ship was knocked 1000 light years away from where it was. Spock corrected, "990.7 light years, to be exact, Lieutenant." Then, to Uhura's pleasure, an exchange commenced between Spock and Scotty, which she always found amusing, as Scotty was so impulsive and Spock so collected.

Scotty passionately announced, "That's not possible! Nothing could do that!"

Spock looked at Scott and responded coolly, "Mr. Scott, since we are here, your statement is not only illogical, but also unworthy of refutation." Uhura fought the urge to laugh at the comment, and the annoyance that she knew hid behind his observant words. Spock also stated, "It is also illogical for us to assume that an explosion even from a supernova of a small star could send us 990.7 light years away."

Scotty protested, "It shouldn't have sent us anywhere! It should have destroyed us immediately, vaporized us!"

Spock answered, "By all the laws that we know, the event should not have been possible. I am left to conclude that we have been displaced through space in a manner that I am unable to fathom."

The excitement of Scott's response reminded Spock of Styik when he became overly excited. Scott said, "So what you're saying is that the planet did not blow up and the captain and the others are still alive!"

Spock sighed slightly and his eyes even reflexively widened at Scotty's behavior as he told the engineer, "Please, Mr. Scott, restrain your leaps of illogic. I have said nothing. I was merely speculating." Uhura turned back around in her seat, feeling utter discomfort now, from turning, combined with the length of time she sat in the straps of the chair. Though reflexively, she glanced towards Spock as the doctor on duty reported the findings of the autopsy on the transporter officer.

Apparently, the man had suffered from cellular disruption, as though every cell in his body was blasted from the inside. No known disease organism that either of the doctors were aware of could cause such a thing. Spock felt himself becoming worried that someone or something may have been on the ship with them. Whatever it was, it was extremely dangerous. He glanced at Nyota, she looked back at him, reading his worry and offering him an expression of empathy and support. Her support strengthened him. Sometimes, he looked to her for that glance of trust. She trusted him, and his command with her life, and that helped him feel secure in his decisions.

Spock made plans to return to their starting point in top warp speed, asking Scotty specifically for warp 8. The helms woman plotted the course and they were headed on their way back to where they were before the strange occurrence.

Scotty contacted the bridge from the engineering room and shared with Spock, "The ship feels wrong."

"Feels wrong?" Spock questioned, somewhat incredulously.

"I know that it sounds strange. The instruments read accurately, but the ship just feels wrong. I can't really put it into words." Scotty tried to explain.

Spock answered, "That is obvious, Mr. Scott. I suggest that you resist emotionalism and just keep your instruments functioning accurately." Nyota stared at Spock, but he was not facing her. He was focused on what needed to be done. She wanted to tell him that maybe he should listen to Scotty, but she could not think of one logical reason why, and she knew that at this point, all that he would accept would be a logical reason. She just hoped that Spock was taking note of Scott's words, even if he did not understand them.

In the engineering room, Scotty told one of his assistants, Watkins to check the bypass valve on the matter/antimatter reaction chamber. Although the board showed it as clear, Scott wanted it checked to see if it was not overheating. The woman from earlier greeted Watkins, knowing his name and asked him to explain the functions of the matter/antimatter switch. When Watkins offered a response, she corrected him in saying, " That is the emergency overload bypass, which engages almost instantaneously. A wise precaution, considering that it takes the antimatter longer to explode once the magnetic flow fails." She approached, him about to touch him when he yelled to Scotty, "Mr. Scott, there is a woman in here who knows the entire plan of the Enterprise." By the time Scotty reached the man, he was dead and Scotty alerted Spock. Spock placed the ship on intruder alert. there was a female intruder on board who was extremely dangerous.

The doctor checked Watkins and found that he died in the same as the transporter officer. When reporting the findings to Spock, as it related to the cause, the doctor made the mistake of saying, "As far as the cause, your guess is as good as mine." Uhura cringed in her seat, knowing that Spock's reaction would not be attractive.

Spock could hardly hide his annoyance as he stated, "My guess, doctor, would be valueless. I suggest we refrain from guessing and find some facts. Spock out." She looked at him again, but he was huddled a bit closely to Scotty and she could not hear him say to the engineer, "If there are more beings on that planet, the captain and the others are in great danger."

After a moment, Spock approached Uhura's workspace and she reported on the security sweeps, which were all negative. He canceled the red alert but maintained increased security and instructed her to update the subspace report for Starfleet, indicating that the sweeps had been negative. Then she asked, "How did she get off the ship, Sir?"

He answered, "Presumably the same way she got on."

"Yes Sir," was her reply. She felt her face redden a bit at the response. She knew that he knew that she was asking him for a theory, but his mood was sour. He was not showing it, but one of the conditions of being a Vulcan's wife was that no matter what he was showing, she always knew what he was feeling. Yet, she wanted some clarity. He was the science specialist. She specialized in communications. She was worried about the others on the planet and what would happen. She just wanted one of his precise numbers as she asked, "Spock, what are the chances of the captain and the others still being alive?"

Spock took a slightly deep breath. She, of everyone else on the ship he had not expected such a question from, as it would require him to make a guess, and she knew better than anyone that making a guess was not in his personality, no matter how much her love had changed him. he answered, "We are not engaged in gambling. We are proceeding the most logical way to return to the place they were last seen and factually ascertain whether or not they still live."

She felt her hormones trying to take over and bring her to anger, but she took a pause and graced him with the most elegant smile that he ever thought that she would give in response to his annoyance and she said, "Yes, Commander." She knew that he was worried about the captain and the others, the ship itself, and certainly her, the baby and Styik. She did not want to add to his stress by becoming frustrated with his tone.

Shortly after, the ship began to have a power surge which increased the speed. The helms woman could not reduce the speed of the ship and it began increasing. Scotty discovered that the emergency bypass on the matter/antimatter control had been fused. The engines were running wild. Scotty estimated that the ship would reach maximum overload in fifteen minutes. Spock reflexively corrected 14.87 minutes. Scotty pointed out that those seconds did not matter as they would all be destroyed soon, and so would the ship. The ship would blow up, and according to Scott, there was nothing in the universe that could stop it. Now, Uhura unstrapped herself and stood up from her chair. She was not concerned about Spock's disapproval currently. She walked up behind Spock and stood, trying to calm her pulse against the news she had just heard.

Spock looked at her and headed for the room in which Scotty was in. He allowed their fingers to brush, on his way off of the bridge and he whispered, softly, and full of concern, "Please return to the security of your seat, Lieutenant Uhura." She nodded her head and followed his order as he left the bridge.

Scotty concluded that the ship had been sabotaged very well. The intruder apparently had fused the control in such a way that it would take all of the power in the main phaser banks to do so.

"Interesting," Spock replied.

"I find nothing interesting about that fact that we're all about to blow up." Scott retorted.

"No, but the method is fascinating." Spock then devised a plan to enter the access tube leading to the matter-antimatter reaction chamber to cut off the flow of fuel from that point with a magnetic pole. Scotty stressed the fact that the service crawlway was not meant to be used while the integrator was operating, but the fact that it was there was reason enough for Spock to attempt to follow through on his plan, despite Scotty's emotional protests. Spock knew that Scotty's words were most likely the truth and most likely to happen, but if he did not attempt at it, his family did not stand a chance in this catastrophe.

"I shall try." Spock told him.

"You'll be killed, man!" Scotty cried out, too excited not to.

Spock reminded Scotty, "Unless a solution is found quickly, that fate awaits all of us." He did not add, including my wife and children, but they were at the center of his concern. Seeing his point, Scotty realized that they had nothing to lose and volunteered to do the job instead, after all, he knew the system much better than Spock did.

While Scott was in the crawlway, he was speaking to Spock on the bridge. he happened to tell him, "I am so close to the magnetic flow right now it feels like ants are crawling all over my body."

Spock's response was, "Mr. Scott, I suggest you refrain from any further subjective descriptions you now have 10 minutes and 19 seconds in which to perform your task."

As Scotty worked, he advised Spock of what to do in certain situations – how he may have to jettison him, the safety control would not hold more than two seconds if he ruptured the field.

"I am aware of these facts, please finish your job." Uhura looked at Spock. He was afraid, though it was not apparent (like all his other emotions). She had a feeling that he was more afraid for her than he was himself. Her and Styik of course. Spock caught her looking at him and asked, "Lt. Uhura, you are monitoring the magnetic force?"

"Aye, Sir." She answered.

He ordered, "Please do not take your eyes off of it." He also informed the helms woman to prepare the jettison, but not to press the button until he ordered it. He would not want to jettison Scotty unless absolutely necessary. Spock repeatedly reminded Scott of the time which he had to operate within. Scott informed Spock that he was trying to do the necessary job, but if the parts did not match exactly, there would be an explosion. Lt. Uhura glanced at her husband, trying to keep her strength, although she had to admit that her stomach was now twirling like crazy. She quickly returned her focus to the magnetic flow, in case Spock caught her looking away again. If they survived, she had to run to the bathroom, then, she was going directly to sick bay. Her son did not seem at peace within her. Scotty began to try to fit the rod into it's appropriate spot.

Uhura reported a change in the magnetic force to Spock and he commanded Scott to ease off. She reported that the force returned to normal. After checking the computer, briefly, Spock ordered Scott to reverse polarity of his probe. Scotty argued, but Spock cut him off to explain that reversed polarity should seal the incision. Scotty followed the orders and Uhura prayed and tried to keep from urinating on herself. Scott made things worse when he announced that the probe was stuck. She stopped herself from making a noise, as she almost yelped or squeaked or squealed – all she knew for sure was that if she could have found her voice, a frightened sound would have emerged from her mouth. She knew that though Spock was better at controlling himself, he had to be as nervous as she was.

Scotty began to panic and insisted that the jettison button was pushed, but Spock simply stated, "Please, continue, Mr. Scott."

"Don't be sentimental. I'm going to die anyway. Push the button." Scotty called out.

"Please, continue." There was no emotion in the statement. Only control, only order. everyone else on the bridge was visibly nervous, but not Spock. His nervousness was shielded deep in his heart.

The countdown had ended and the helms woman seemed desperate to press the jettison button, but Spock simply glanced at her, refusing to make the command. After only a moment, Uhura reported, "Magnetic force is stabilized."

"Mr. Scott, you have accomplished your task." Spock said.

"You could at least say thank you." Scott told him.

Now, Spock said, "For what purpose Mr. Scott? What is it in you humans that requires an overwhelming display of emotion in a situation such as this? Two men pursue the only reasonable course of action indicated, and yet you feel that something else is necessary."

Uhura unstrapped herself from her chair. Although she hated Spock's reflexively comments about humans and their emotions, she found herself smiling at the exchange, as she knew that although he was not going to say it, her husband was extremely grateful to Scotty for his work. She began to trot off of the bridge, trying to hold her fluid within. "Bathroom!" She called, not explaining any further, as she did not think that she could possibly hold it any longer after such an event.

Spock took one of the security personnel and went to the surface of the planet to check on the missing crew members. Upon arriving in a strange cave, Spock saw three identical woman trying to attack the captain, the doctor, and the helmsman of the ship. When Kirk saw him, he called, "Spock, destroy the computer!" The security person shot at it and the women disappeared.

Kirk approached his Vulcan friend and said, "Mr. Spock, I am glad to see you. I thought that you and the Enterprise had been destroyed."

"I had the same misgivings about you."

They watched a recording with the woman explaining what had happened to the people who had controlled the planet, but were now dead. After a brief exchange about the woman, who said that her name was Losira, on the recording, and about the planet, the men beamed back to the ship.

Spock looked at the communications station, upon returning to the bridge to see Lt. Hawkins seated there, instead of his wife. Calmly, he approached the console, but the officer informed him, "She went to medical bay to get checked out, just to see if everything was okay after the ordeal."

Spock looked at Captain Kirk who said, "Surely, you don't think that I would refuse you to go see about her." McCoy and Spock both headed to the medical bay, together.

Upon arriving, Spock saw her right away, seated on the examination table, seemingly fine. He rushed over to her and took her hands in his. This was one place on the entire ship, besides in their own chambers that he did not worry about his display of concern or affection. "We are both fine. Everything is alright. My blood pressure is a little high, but I am going to our room to rest it off, if that is okay?"

Dr. McCoy folded his arms and said, "You're taking a few days off." She felt like that was his response for everything. When she was about to get past her point of proven safety, he had placed her on medical leave for a headache. It was a bit irritating, but she knew how hard it had been for him to have to doctor her through two miscarriages, and she did not argue with him when he allowed his feelings to dictate the way he handled her as a patient.

She returned to the room, escorted by Spock. When they entered, they saw Chekov sitting at the table with Styik. He informed them, "When the ship began going crazy, I knew that Lt. Uhura would have wanted someone with him."

"I didn't need him." Styik commented, getting up from the table to address his guardians. He asked, "So, how close did we come to being destroyed?" Nyota shook her head at the question and went to lay down.

Chekov, Styik and Spock all left the room to allow her some rest. Most of the crew gathered in the bridge, even the boy to hear Sulu, McCoy and Kirk tell hem all about the dangerous adventure that they had encountered on the planet, with the replicas of the mysterious woman, Losira. Dr. D'Amato had been killed, Sulu had almost been killed as well, and if it were not for Spock coming at the moment in which he did, all of them would have been killed. Spock brushed off the accolades as him doing the logical thing and doing his job, but he felt his own pride swell in his heart when he looked at Styik and saw the greatest amount of admiration towards him in the entire area.