Now, December 2260(a), Decker's Landing on Vernos VI

Spock carefully secured the small object Jessica Maddox had entrusted to his care as he walked across the square to where the captain and Leonard stood staring at him. The doctor's smug smile warned him to be wary. As much as he had come to respect the older man, and at times, even enjoy his company, the scientist was not unaware that the self-satisfied grin was usually a harbinger of trouble ahead.

He was two point one three meters away when Leonard gave in to a urge to laugh and Kirk elbowed their friend in the ribs. The doctor ceased laughing immediately and turned glaring eyes on the young captain. Spock did not roll his eyes at their antics.

"What's up, Spock?" Jim asked as he stopped in front of them.

Spock glanced at the deep blue Vernos VI sky.

"It's an expression," the captain explained sounding as if he were speaking to a small child. "From an early 20th century anima— oh, never mind. What's that?" He nodded to the science officer's hand.

"This," Spock told him, "is a toy, Jim."

Leonard snorted and muttered something that sounded like "the overgrown elf finally lost it."

"On the contrary, Doctor," Spock said. "I have only just found it in Ms. Maddox's lab.

"She told me it was invented by her grandfather, Dr. François Maddox, and was very popular with the traders who regularly visited Vernos VI until increases in violence around the Neutral Zone caused them to alter their routes roughly a decade ago.

"This disk employs rudimentary cloaking technology as part of its roll in a children's game. As Lt. Uhura is currently researching the feasibility of developing a more advanced method of concealment for Federation starships, I thought this would be of interest to her."

Jim smirked. "Funny how things like this keep popping up just when we need them, isn't it?" he quipped.

No one acknowledged him.

"Since when have you started calling her 'Lt. Uhura' again?" Leonard queried.

"That is solely in deference to Jim's presence," Spock told the doctor. "Ms. Maddox informs me that while Dr. Maddox refuses to share with us his method of manufacture, he has given his consent for me to attempt to back-engineer the device. If the information could possibly help move the lieutenant's research forward more rapidly, I would like her to be in receipt of it as quickly as possible."

McCoy laughed and slapped the half-Vulcan on the shoulder. "Afraid Command might order her to spend another six months with the pointy-ears if they catch wind of her side job?"

Spock looked at the doctor's hand on his person and raised an eyebrow. He gave up when Leonard continued to grin at him and refused to move it.

"I would not have used the term 'afraid,' Doctor," he said, "but your supposition is not wholly inaccurate. It would be preferable for Nyota to return to the Enterprise as scheduled."

James T. Kirk huffed out breath. "Why can't you just say you miss her?" he asked sulkily.

Spock turned to the captain and raised the other eyebrow. "I believe that is exactly what I just suggested, Jim."

"Maybe you'd better write her a little love note, while you're at it," Leonard suggested. "In fact, maybe you'd better do that first."

Settling his features into utter impassivity, Spock looked at his friend. "A love letter? What would be the purpose in that?" he wanted to know. "Nyota is fully aware of my regard for her. Discovering how the toy works would be a wiser use of my time, and be of more benefit to her, than my composing an epistle in order to tell her what she already knows would be."

McCoy smiled smugly again. "Now, as your future best man, I think it's only right that I remind you that you've already admitted to not understanding women very well," he said. "You haven't had visual contact with that woman in nearly a month. And it's been even longer than that since you were physically in her presence. You, her and the Lord only knows how long it's been since you were actually… physical with her. Maybe a Vulcan doesn't mind waiting, but you can bet Ms. Uhura is missing you real bad by now."

Spock concentrated on keeping his embarrassment from announcing itself in the form of bright green ears while Jim silently mouthed Best man?

"I shall take your advice under consideration, Leonard," he said before turning and heading for the beam-up point, now located within the village limits.

_____________

Jim watched Spock dematerialize before rounding to glare at his best friend.

"Best man?" he demanded. "Why'd he ask you?"

Bones grimaced. "Because they expect you to marry them, stupid."

"Oh," Jim said, his ire evaporating as quickly as Spock's body had disappeared.

"Oh no!" came a voice from behind the doctor. Jim looked over Bones's shoulder to view the petite strawberry blonde who was hurrying from the community center, carrying a thick paper folder. "Damn! I was hoping to catch him," she said.

Spinning around, Bones looked at Jessica Maddox. "You needed Spock?"

"Yes," she told, glancing briefly at Jim before focusing her attention on the doctor. "I wanted to give him some notes I've compiled over the years. They're all about Grandda's inventions. I don't know how that toy he liked so much works, but I thought that maybe my notes would be of some use."

"Maybe," Bones said, sounding like he seriously doubted it. "He was in a real hurry to get back to the ship. Gotta write his girl a love letter, then get to work on figuring out your grandpa's toy so he can send her the specs."

Jim watched as most of the color drained from the pretty young woman's face.

"Love letter?" she repeated.

"Yeah," Bones replied relentlessly. "They haven't seen each other in ages. Can hardly stand it anymore."

"Maybe I can be of some assistance, Ms. Maddox," Jim gallantly cut in, turning on a full dose of the Kirk charm after aiming a quick glare at his friend. "I can deliver your notes to Spock, but if you don't mind, maybe a tour brief tour of your laboratory will help me understand what you do here."

He offered her an elbow, and she took it, smiling uncertainly into eyes he knew from experience were twinkling in a way most women found hard to resist.

"I'll catch up with you later, Bones," he tossed over his shoulder as he escorted Jessica Maddox back to the community center.


Now, December 2260(a), the Vulcan Colony

Wrapping up her final class for the day, Uhura smiled on the inside. Work on the communications network was progressing satisfactorily and the training of Vulcan communications specialists was proving easier now that they had become accustomed to human teaching methods. Using whatever time she has which wasn't committed to the Communications Ministry for research in a field outside her comfort zone had turned out to be good distraction. She was usually too busy to dwell on just how much she missed her absent fiancé.

A few words in Uncle Tabansi's ear had also ensured she wasn't limited to teaching the lower-level classes anymore, either. She allowed herself a brief outward smile as T'Dun approached her while the rest of the advanced students filed out of the lecture hall.

"It is pleasing to have you teach this class again, Nyota," the Vulcan woman told her.

Uhura schooled her features to not react to the unexpected statement. "Was Savensu Ehringer not a satisfactory instructor?" she asked.

T'Dun's face remained impassive as she replied. "He was able to impart the information required," she said, "but I believe that he was uncomfortable with the Vulcan demeanor and often spent a small portion of the class telling jokes in an attempt to help us 'loosen up.' While I found his actions to be interesting, if uninformed, many of my classmates believed that the time would have been better utilized either devoted to independent study or further lecturing."

Uhura had to choke back a laugh at the thought of Jeff Ehringer trying to get a class full of Vulcans to laugh at jokes that even his human colleagues rarely found amusing. She made do with another small smile.

"I am surprised that no one informed Minister Wakufunzi of this," she said. "All of his staff received extensive training before beginning this assignment. Your class should not have been subjected to his behavior."

"Someone did speak with your uncle." T'Dun cocked her head to the side. "We believed that was why you were once more our teacher."

Biting the inside of her lip, Uhura considered the other woman's revelation.

"I believed it was because I told Uncle Tabansi that I was not being sufficiently challenged," she admitted. Gathering up her belongings, she walked around lectern and hopped off the low dais to join T'Dun.

"Perhaps both were factors in his decision," her friend suggested.

Nodding, Uhura fell into step with the Vulcan as she walked towards the doors at the rear of the hall.

"T'Dun," she said when they were nearly halfway up the aisle, "I do not flatter myself to think that you merely stayed after class to tell me that you missed me." She let a teasing note slip into her voice, although she knew the Vulcan wouldn't have taken offense anyway.

"Actually, Nyota, over the past five weeks I have found that I prefer your company to its lack," T'Dun rejoined. "However, you are correct in thinking that informing you of this was not my sole purpose in seeking you out today. I have come to offer my assistance."

Uhura tilted her head in silent query.

"You say that you were not being sufficiently challenged by the work allotted to you since the arrival of Minister Wakufunzi and his subordinates," T'Dun explained, "yet I believe you and Ambassador T'Khio'ri have begun researching the possibility of developing a cloaking device for Federation starships."

Uhura swallowed. That wasn't supposed to be common knowledge. Not even Starfleet Command knew about her side project.

"What makes you think that?" she asked, wanting to kick herself for using such a lame response.

T'Dun stopped walking and stared at her intently. "You and the ambassador have been assigned a private laboratory at the Science Academy where several hundred kilograms of opalitum have been delivered. Your mate is serving on a starship near the Neutral Zone, where Romulan, and sometimes Klingon ships are known to be using such devices in what Ambassador Spock has told us is nine Terran years ahead of the time the Federation became aware of the technology in his own reality.

"I am a geologist, Nyota. I know the properties of opalitum. Why else would you and Ambassador T'Khio'ri be so interested in studying it, if not in hopes of developing a means to protect your mate?"

Uhura let a broad smile to spread across her face. "You are leaving out one important fact," she said. "Spock is in danger now. I cannot hope to develop such a device in time to protect him."

T'Dun's eyebrow lifted in what Uhura thought of as the Vulcan equivalent to a shrug. "You are human, Nyota," she said. "Is not 'hope springs eternal' the appropriate phrase?"

_____________

The work progressed more quickly with T'Dun's input and experience guiding them.

Her former profession made her privy to concepts and methods of processing the samples that even T'Khio'ri had been unaware of.

More importantly, she was another voice making suggestions in the lab. For all of their differences, T'Khio'ri and Uhura still shared extremely similar thought processes when approaching work.

"But if they had to decloak every time they needed to call for assistance, would not a significant advantage be lost anyway?" the human posited three days after her friend began working with them. "Even if the crew cloaked again immediately after sending out the call, it would be a simple thing for an enemy to calculate the maneuvers the crew would most likely employ next and, provided they had sufficient weaponry, fire in all probable locations."

"Nyota," T'Khio'ri said from her workstation, "are you forgetting that an enemy could just as easily intercept a distress call and identify its point of origin? Even if we were to discover a way to utilize subspace messaging while cloaked, it would still be dangerous for a ship to try it."

Huffing out a tiny sigh, Uhura bent over her work again.

"I am still learning about subspace technology, of course," T'Dun spoke up from her own place in the lab, "but would it not be possible to develop a system for projecting, within a given area, random bursts of electromagnetic waves that mimic communications frequencies? With a suitably adequate helmsperson, could not a ship use such a system to create a field of waves so large that an enemy ship would be confused and find the possible waste of firepower unequal to the likelihood of actually hitting the cloaked ship?"

T'Khio'ri's lips twitched. "If the ship was in any condition to employ evasive maneuvers and, if the enemy were Vulcan, that would work well," she said. "However, in order to develop such a system, we would need to have in place an algorithm complicated enough that the enemy could not easily track the pattern."

"And better encryption than we're currently using," Uhura put in. "I have been thinking about developing a new one that mimics natural space chatter. It would work well with the system T'Dun suggested."

"And it would require us to overcome two more obstacles," T'Khio'ri pointed out. "One, we would need to ensure that the imitation did not deviate too far from the natural noise occurring in whatever sector of space the ship was in, and two, we would need to develop a key that would allow the receiver to decipher what would likely be a randomly selected encryption.

"The obstacles can each be overcome mathematically, but doing so would take more time than any of the three of us has to spare to accomplish."

T'Dun turned from the console at her workstation.

"That is true, Ambassador," she told the older Vulcan. "But while we thee lack the time and the expertise to develop the requisite mathematics, Torak does not." She turned to Uhura and continued, "You have said that he is progressing more quickly than he previously did. Perhaps he could be persuaded to assist us in our endeavors?"

Caught between a desire to be successful and the thought of spending more time with one of her least favorite students, the human woman didn't answer right away.

"Did you not also say that he has ceased asking you 'impertinent questions,' Nyota?" T'Khio'ri asked.

Realizing that it would be illogical to argue, Uhura nodded her head.

"I will speak with him tonight," T'Dun promised.

The three went back to working silently, and Uhura tried not to think about why her friend expected to see Torak that night.


Now, December 2260(a), the Enterprise

Dearest Nyota, Spock's letter began.

In truth, it was not a letter so much as it was an audio recording. He did not wish to take a chance on the possibility of anyone else seeing his face as he recorded words expressing his deepest feelings for his beloved.

Through our link, we are never truly apart, and yet it has been twenty-seven point eight Terran days since I last looked at your beautiful face. A picture of you is often in my thoughts, but I have found that memory does not compare favorably with actually being in your presence.

As tedious as this mission has been, there have been many moments which have led to more thoughts and memories of you.

There are moments when the nine point two five months that elapsed between the commencement of our romantic association and the consummation of our physical relationship comes to the forefront of my mind. The longing I feel now is similar in nature — I know that you are mine and that I am yours, but I am unable to indulge in the feel of your cool soft skin beneath my fingertips.

Do you long for the same, Nyota? Do you fall asleep in your lonely bed, the memory of my body pressed against yours both a comfort and a small torture in the night?

My Nyota

He continued recording for another hour, telling himself that he could edit the missive later if needed.


Now, December 2260(a), the Vulcan colony

The weekly dinner with Uncle Tabansi and T'Khio'ri had become equally important to maintaining Uhura's sanity as was the extra work she used as a distraction from worrying about Spock.

Once a week, the three Wakufunzis came together to cook meals reminiscent of home in the communications minister's kitchen. They shared stories and memories of family that existed in both timelines and some that existed in only one or the other.

Tabansi learned of, and grieved for, the daughter, Ana, that he'd never had in this lifetime.

T'Khio'ri heard stories of a M'Umbha Uhura who had left the diplomatic corps after her son was born and had not died while on a mission for Starfleet Intelligence.

They all found strength in family.

It took four days for Spock's letter to arrive just before they began arranging the ingredients prior to preparing the meal.

Tabansi and T'Khio'ri made noises about not needing her assistance and urged Nyota to lock herself in her uncle's sleeping chamber while she listened to her message.

When she emerged more than an hour later, all three Wakufunzis sat down to eat, each basking in the joy emanating from the youngest of them.


Now, December 2260(a), the Enterprise

Bones glanced between the list of requests from the small team of medics living on Vernos VI and a list of medical stores they would need to replace when they visited Starbase 23 in mid-January. Although the colonists had been in sore need of a lot medicine and supplies, the Enterprise wasn't exactly in danger of running out over the next three weeks. He could spare a some extras for the little colony.

"We can spare another three med-tricorders for their clinic," he told his colleague. "Those'll probably last them six or seven years without even needing to be recalibrated. But Dr. Garvey tells me Ms. Maddox can take care of that if the need crops up. I'm gonna add a vaccine replicator and some starter stock to the mix. That'll come in handy — theirs are so outdated I amazed they didn't have a plague when we got here."

Medical Bay was under his jurisdiction, of course, but he knew from experience that when working for a bureaucracy, it was best to cover your ass. He also knew from experience that when it came to administrative work, Jim had the attention span of an infantile housefly. That was an improvement over the infantile gnat he'd been when they'd first shipped out, but Bones wasn't in the mood working with infantile flying insects of any variety.

So, he'd drafted Spock into taking inventory with him. The dedicated first officer could spend hours on the most excruciatingly boring tasks without losing his focus. Not a very exciting trait to have, but a useful one. Especially at times like this when Bones wanted to get the job done and get the hell away from this backwater planet that made his country home look like a megalopolis.

He waited for Spock to point out that Vernos VI hadn't had off-world visitors in approximately eight point something years. When the admonishment didn't come, he looked up from his lists.

The green-blooded devil was sitting so still, it took the doctor a moment to tell he as still breathing. His eyes were half closed, his right hand stopped halfway to the PADD he held in the left one.

And he was smiling.

"Spock!" he snapped.

"Yes, Doctor?" the first officer replied agreeably. Too agreeably.

Bones stared at him for a moment before responding.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"What do you mean, Leonard?" Apart for that damnable raised eyebrow, his face was a mask of innocent confusion.

"You were just smiling," Bones accused.

"Smiling," Spock parroted. "Was I?"

"Yes. You were," Bones stated with forced patience. "And I'd like to know why."

Spock was quiet, apparently debating whether or not he should answer.

"I believe Nyota has received my correspondence," he said at last. "She is… pleased."

Unable to hold back a self-satisfied grin, Bones said, "You're welcome."

"Thank you, Leonard."


A/N: Seventh chapter the sequel to Once and Future. Updates on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Most of the questions left unanswered there will be addressed in this fic. Didn't read Once? Find it at /s/5293456/1/Once_and_Future .

Disclaimer: I don't own them!