Three days and two very late nights spent talking formally with T'Pol, and informally with Brenna, later found Elonat feeling marginally more prepared for their arrival on Vulcan. T'Pol had filled in the missing gaps of Elonat's grandfather's arrival on earth and told her that the Vulcan ambassador from Earth, Soval, had been informed Elonat's dilemma and would meet them on Vulcan. He would be the linguistic and cultural liaison for Elonat as they transferred the katras and then Elonat would be given access to Vulcan records for the purpose of finding any distant Vulcan relatives (should they even desire to lay claim to her as a relative was still uncertain even for T'Pol as Elonat's very existence was an unprecedented challenge).
They were due to arrive in another four days and until then Elonat had been cleared by Archer to roam the ship to her heart's delight, with Brenna ever present at her side. Hayes had made sure to keep the original assignment of Brenna as Elonat's MACO escort namely because Brenna put up such an insubordinate stink about possible reassignment that Hayes had threatened to throw her in the brig. This hadn't phased the woman in the slightest and it had taken Elonat gently requesting the same thing for Hayes to relent, calling off Brenna's proposed replacement of Mackenzie, and go his way. He remained polite and friendly enough towards Elonat but had not yet made any major efforts to grow more acquainted with her.
For the most part, the crew of the ship treated Elonat warmly. The ship's communications officer, Hoshi, and the helmsman Mayweather were the friendliest, being of similar mischievous ilk to Brenna. And the engineer Trip came close behind in levels of friendliness. It seemed that there was a strange almost sexual dimension between Trip and T'Pol that kept them both preoccupied, either with avoiding each other and thereby making them fairly elusive in present conversation with others, or in keeping them off together conspiring over whatever it was that seemed to be bothering them. No one openly spoke about what everyone saw; well, no one except Brenna. Brenna spoke about anything and everything with near anyone.
Elonat now knew why she felt such an affinity for Brenna. On her first night, Brenna had explained how she too was a woman out of place in time, and reality. She'd described an alternate reality where the Eugenics Wars and World War 3 had never happened. It had been from that 21st century reality that Brenna been transported to the starship Enterprise, but an Enterprise that existed in the future with a different crew—and it had been among this crew that Brenna had referenced her human-Vulcan friend Spock.
Elonat's head had begun to hurt by the time Brenna came to the "end" of her story which didn't seem to be an end at all. Having been personally chosen as a "playmate" of an omnipresent entity like Q sounded both fascinating and horrifying. Brenna had explained to Elonat that she would continue to exist in this time and place only for as long as Q deemed it entertaining forhim. The woman had said this as warning to Elonat, just in case she woke up one morning and Brenna was gone altogether.
In comparison to Brenna's dilemma, Elonat felt that hers was at least marginally stable. They were on their way to Vulcan but after that was unknown. Would distant Vulcan relatives seek to adopt her? Would those of the scientific world, be it on Vulcan or Earth, allow her to live in peace? Would the Romulans come after her again? Would she have to go into hiding from all planets and governments in order to keep Augment DNA from resurging again? Elonat found no comfort in her grandfather or father's presence, from their katras in her mind, and neither did she find reassurance in T'Pol's equally uncertain gaze. And so Elonat sought to stay as actively engaged outwardly as possible until they arrived on Vulcan.
This determination was what led her to seek out Brenna's accompaniment to the training room during the daily sparring sessions the MACOs held. Hayes had mentioned them to her two days before when she'd asked how they kept themselves trained and ready whilst on the ship, but she'd not yet been in the mindset to join in. Yet now she had more than one reason to come by. As she and Brenna stood on the sidelines watching, Elonat noticed the MACOs were using moves she'd never seen. Considering how she'd won against Jikain, Elonat knew she'd need to have better tactics than solving all tight spots with a kiss. If this century proved like her own, and it seemed it would, then she was doomed to have idiots challenge her to fights and attempt to egg her into fights once they discovered her Augment DNA or even just took note of her hybrid status.
"You know what I miss?" Elonat made a noise in her throat to indicate she was listening to Brenna though she kept her eyes on the individuals sparring in front of them. "I miss silence."
"What do you mean?" Elonat questioned, still not looking away from the MACOs.
Elonat heard Brenna unstrap her sparring glove and re-tighten it as she spoke, "Even when no one is talking here, there's still noise. All this technology," Brenna waved a hand around the exercise room they stood in, "it's always making noise. I crave the away missions on undeveloped planets, not that I get sent on those very often as I've been deemed a 'loose cannon', but I crave them because it's the closest thing to silence I can get in this time and place."
Elonat glanced to either side of where they stood. Thankfully no one stood nearby who was paying them any sort of attention; everyone seemed to be intent upon the sparring matches.
"There was silence on our ranch when I was young," Elonat smiled at the memory then assumed a neutral expression when the momentary happy memory gave way to one of the opposite nature, "but by the time I went into the chamber there was rarely silence."
They were both spared further rumination by the sudden appearance of Hoshi and Mayweather, seemingly coming out of nowhere.
"Hey Brenna," Hoshi sidled up beside them, "Elonat." She was also dressed in exercise clothes, as was Mayweather. They all stood watching the sparring for a moment before Hoshi turned to Elonat, "I have to ask!" She waved away a cautioning hand from Mayweather. "You said you had to wrestle the Romulan commander in order to get away to the escape pods."
Elonat blushed. She'd hedged the truth a bit in order to disguise the time line between when she'd fought Jikain and when she'd escaped. Only Brenna knew the truth and that was only because Elonat had felt a strange obligation to reveal the full truth to her fellow displaced in time sojourner since Brenna had trusted Elonat with her own truth.
Elonat nodded and hesitantly spoke, "Yes, why do you bring it up now?"
"Well," Hoshi gestured to the sparring mats, "can you show us how you did it? From what we've been told by T'Pol and Phlox, Romulans are very strong and ferocious fighters. And no offense, but you don't seem to be the fighting type." Again Mayweather tried to grab at Hoshi but she shrugged off his attempts to hush her; Elonat smiled at the display of his friendship and her unabashed curiosity.
"You're right, Hoshi, I'm not what one could call a fighter. I have some martial arts training, but it was mostly for defense and not offense. Both my grandfather and my father wanted me to be able to get out of fights quickly and without hurting my opponents." Before Hoshi could interrupt again, Elonat held up a hand. "I did use some, what shall we call it, unorthodox moves in order to win against the Romulan commander so that combined with my superior strength is what I believe allowed me to get away."
She heard Brenna cough at her side, but the woman wisely remained silent aside from that. Hoshi, on the other hand, only seemed more curious, "What sort of unorthodox moves? We get our training from Lieutenant Reed and he's always trying to teach us moves he's learned from various alien species but is pretty by-the-book in his methods. And Lieutenant Hayes is much the same, but he focuses mostly on training the MACOs now."
There seemed to be a story there, in the way Hoshi spoke and her tone of voice, but there was no time to delve into it for the arrival of both Lieutenants to the room had them all pausing in conversation. Before Elonat could blink, Hoshi waved to the men and gestured for them to join. Only Hayes came over immediately as Lieutenant Reed momentarily retreated to another group of ensigns and began, it looked like, to berate them for their lack of proper technique.
"Lieutenant Hayes," Hoshi spoke brightly once he stood in front of them, "Elonat was just telling us that she used some unorthodox moves to get away from the Romulans who'd held her captive. Have you ever fought a Romulan before?"
Hayes shook his head, "I've never even seen a Romulan before." He turned his gaze to Elonat who by this point in time really wished she had some excuse to retreat as Reed seemed to have had, "Would you mind showing us how you got away? I'm always looking to incorporate more movements into my repertoire."
About to protest Elonat felt a hand on her wrist and looked over to Brenna. The woman looked like a child in a candy store, near quivering with excitement, and Elonat sighed. Brenna had explained to Elonat that she would only continue to exist in this reality so long as the Q entity remained entertained. While Elonat got the feeling that Brenna's desire to see whatever was about to happen was more for her own entertainment than for the sake of appeasing Q, Elonat couldn't help but think that maybe by following through with this inadvertent setup that Brenna would remain by her side longer. She was the closest thing to a friend that Elonat had experienced in years, aside from Mr'ish, and if this small embarrassment could help keep Brenna by her side longer then Elonat would go through with it.
"Sure," Elonat returned her gaze to Hayes and smiled, "do you want me to tell you the moves before I execute them or just let them happen?" Hoshi began pounding on Brenna's back when she took to coughing.
Hayes played right into her ploy when he replied, "If you tell me beforehand then I'll be influenced in my responses and those watching may lose out on a learning experience. No, just let the punches fall as they may."
Elonat nodded quietly. She shot Brenna a warning look before following Hayes onto the one free sparring mat. They hadn't even started yet and already those who had previously been milling about on the sidelines were moving closer to watch. Only T'Pol, Archer, Phlox, Brenna, and Hayes knew of her Augment DNA. Everyone else had been allowed to believe that it was her hybrid nature that made her stronger than the average human. So these on-lookers were mostly out of curiosity over a hybrid against Hayes and not an Augment against human.
Hayes took up position opposite her and assumed a ready position. Elonat quickly played out in her memory all her moves that had led to the culminating winner move—the kiss—and tried to play out in the here and now what she would have to do to get Hayes to react in a similar manner as Jikain. There were some major differences, however, in that Hayes did not think or move like a Romulan and was also physically weaker than a Romulan. She would have to tone back her own responses to keep from seriously injuring him, falling back on her childhood training with her grandfather and father.
"Ready when you are." Hayes brought Elonat back to the moment with his comment.
Before she could allow logic to dissuade her from her coming actions, Elonat complied with Brenna's unspoken request for entertainment. She casually walked up to Hayes, his stance unwavering though his expression had changed to one of curiosity at her lack of blocking, and without pausing in her movements she moved her fist forward to slam into his chest. Though Hayes blocked it, unlike Jikain had, the momentum of her punch was enough to shift him off his feet and back a pace. He responded in a similar fashion to JIkain next in that he used his hold on Elonat's fist to jerk her forward as he used a leg sweep to have them both fall towards the mat.
She allowed the fall, as that had also happened originally, but used her superior strength to break Hayes' hold on her wrist and rocked her body away as he moved to grab hold. As his body continued forward in motion she flipped herself onto his back, much as she had that night with Jikain, only unlike Jikain Hayes seemed to be ready for this and instead of falling onto his stomach as Jikain had initially, Hayes flipped them immediately so that Elonat was pinned beneath his body on the mat, his back on her front. Jikain had done similar and this was where things were going to get complicated because it was about this time that she'd initially bit Jikain and caused them to both switch gears in their minds. She didn't know if Hayes would respond in the same manner though; being human, and less primal as it seemed both Vulcan and Romulans seemed to be, his response could be completely opposite to Jikain's. Either way, however, Hayes was beginning to extricate her arms and legs from around his body and had already rolled onto his front again in an effort to further dislodge her. She would have to follow through with her instinct. She bit him.
Hayes faltered just enough out of surprise that she was able to grab hold of his hands and slam them onto the mat on either side of his head while she also maneuvered her legs to lock his together and hyper-extended his knees so he couldn't move into a kneeling position without hurting himself. She hadn't bit his shoulder nearly as hard as she had Jikain but when she pulled her mouth away from his skin, she saw red indentations where her teeth had been.
"I'm assuming," Hayes grunted, his voice a little muffled by his lips' proximity to the mat, "that that was one of your unorthodox moves."
Elonat smirked, "Yes it was."
"I applaud the ingenuity." Hayes didn't knock his skull against her face as Jikain had but he did a strange curling move, pulling his limbs towards his core, that threw off Elonat's balance enough for him get a firm grip of the mat and reach around to throw her off his back.
She didn't have time or ability to continue to roll away from him. Hayes was prepared mentally in ways that Jikain had not been. He was able to fall on top her torso almost immediately, pinning her arms against her sides as he sought to move his hips to be atop her own so he could stop her legs movements. Elonat twisted her hips until they faced fully away from Hayes and used the momentum to keep the twisting movement until Hayes was half lying on her back, seeking to pin her down, instead of being chest-to-chest. So while the method was different, things were still playing out in a similar enough fashion. Hayes did place his head near the juncture of her neck and shoulder as he moved his body fully atop hers.
Elonat ceased all movement then and allowed her body to go completely limp. When Hayes leaned forward ever so slightly to check on why she might respond like that, Elonat pulled her second unorthodox move. She turned her head and without warning she pressed her lips against his. Hayes pulled his face back quickly, barely allowing there to be enough time to even register that a kiss had happened. He blinked at her a moment before he let his head fall forward onto her shoulder and his whole body shook with laughter.
When he looked up again his eyes were mirthful, "I'm going to venture a guess that that was your winning move?" He began to extricate himself as he spoke. At Elonat's nod he continued to chuckle, "I can understand why that would be a momentary win, but I certainly hope you don't intend upon winning every fight with that."
"No," Elonat pushed herself up and accepted his extended hand as he'd come to stand faster than she, "that was my original reason for coming here today. I was hoping to learn some more orthodox moves since I'd rather not weaponize my lips."
Hayes laughed again and Elonat shared in his mirth. It took them both a moment more of standing to realize a few things:
1. That they still held hands,
2. That they were not the only people in the room, and
3. That everyone had stopped sparring and had been watching them intently.
Hayes dropped her hand and took a step back, his earlier open expression remaining friendly but schooling into a more neutral version of it. Elonat swiped her hands over her face to take care of the beads of sweat she'd produced and glanced over to Brenna. The woman was doubled-over and Hoshi seemed to be stroking her back while Mayweather stood biting his lips to keep from laughing. A few other people also looked ready to die of laughter while some just looked confused, namely Lieutenant Reed.
"Well then perhaps you could join in with the other MACOs during our training sessions from tomorrow onwards, until we reach Vulcan. We might be able to help prevent further weaponization." He gave a hint of a wink and Elonat chuckled.
"Thank you, that would be most appreciated." She rubbed at her own neck then and indicated Hayes', "I hope I didn't bite too hard."
"Nah," Hayes waved away her concern, "you didn't draw blood and that's enough for me." He reached out and placed a hand over the bite mark and pulled his fingers away, nodding to himself at the lack of blood.
"Excuse me," they both turned, along with near everyone else in the room, at the sound of Phlox's voice at the room's entrance, "may I steal away Elonat?"
Elonat spared a glance at Brenna and, seeing the woman much recovered, nodded her head to Phlox. She gave Hayes another smile, both apologetic and thankful, before she followed Phlox and a still chuckling Brenna from the room.
"Are you alright, Brenna?" Phlox spoke over his shoulder as he led them towards sick bay. From his tone of voice, he didn't sound particularly concerned about Brenna's health status as perhaps it was a common enough occurrence for her to double over from laughter.
"Yup," she kept wiping at her eyes and nose, "I'm just great. Laughter is the best medicine after all." She glanced over her shoulder at where they'd come from then lightly punched Elonat's shoulder, "Oh my word, Elonat! I wish I could've gotten that on video. I don't know which was more entertaining, watching you with Hayes or watching everyone else watch you with Hayes." Brenna thrust both hands up in the air and chanted, "Perfect! Perfect!" She shook her head and attempted to sober up a bit before she added, "Thank you for humoring me, Elonat. That has got to be one of my favorite moments on this ship so far."
Before Brenna accidentally gave anything away in her mirth Elonat looked back to Phlox, "Is there a problem with the latest test results you took?" One of the reasons why Archer had been so amiable to allow her free roaming was because she'd acquiesced to his request that Phlox run an extensive amount of scans and tests on her, for the purpose of sending the results on to both Vulcan and to earth so they could assess…whatever the hell they felt the need to assess when it came to her existence.
"I believe this is a conversation best had in private." They'd arrived at sick bay and stood just outside the doors. Phlox was looking pointedly at Brenna who, bless her, looked over her own shoulder then back at Phlox. "You can wait out here and I'll call you in when you're needed again."
Brenna looked at Elonat before she sighed and nodded. She leaned against the wall opposite sick bay and made a point of looking as petulant as possible. Elonat shook her head with a smile at her friend as she followed Phlox into sick bay. He didn't lead her to a biobed but instead to a set of screens on the wall. He pushed a button and three of the screens blinked on.
"This is Vulcan," he pointed to the first screen, "this is human," he pointed to the middle, "and this is you."
Elonat looked at the screens for a moment trying to decipher what it was she was looking at then looked back to Phlox. He seemed content to allow her to flounder around in confusion and instead crossed his arms over his chest and took to stroking his chin as he watched her. She looked back to the screens and after a few more moments of study she felt her stomach bottom out in recognition.
"Based off your lack of color," she felt Phlox's hand on her elbow as he led her to a chair nearby, still within view of the telling screens, "I assume you recognize what these screens say about your current health status."
Elonat nodded, still not quite recovered enough for words.
"I'll want to do some more scans, specifically for this, and I'm going to prescribe you a daily multi-vitamin since this explains your lower levels in iron and calcium. I will advise you, however, to not do anything you aren't already doing. Introducing new highly strenuous activities could jeopardize your health or that of-"
"I know." Elonat offered Phlox a dazed and wobbly smile. "My grandmother and grandfather struggled for years but after so many losses," she placed a hand over her abdomen, "They were content with my father."
"Elonat, I will not lie to you and tell you that everything will work out fine. Healthy births among the same species are miracle enough let alone something of this caliber." Phlox pointed to the various screens in front of them. "Your health system is already unique due to your Augment DNA as well as your hybrid status and now with the addition of Romulan DNA into the mix," Phlox shook his head, "your case is entirely without precedent. I will do everything I can with my equipment here to assess the best care for you for the here and now as well as into the future but," Phlox sighed, "the Vulcan doctors are going to have to be informed of your status to ensure the best possible care for you while you are on their planet. Vulcan is far more arid than you are accustomed to and it is quite easy for any human to go into shock if the proper precautions are not taken. With your pregnancy, you are at even greater risk."
"That is making the assumption that my Augment DNA and hybrid doesn't kick in and make me less likely to suffer from shock." Elonat did not speak harshly to Phlox nor did she argue with his logic. She understood the necessity of informing the Vulcan doctors and she knew that if she moved from Vulcan to Earth, as she already assumed she would, that Earth doctors would also need to be informed.
IF the baby survived that long. Elonat fought against a momentary wave of nausea. She knew it wasn't connected to the pregnancy and was instead connected to nerves. "I understand Dr. Phlox," she distracted herself from her own discomfort by turning her attention to the Denobulian. "Please inform whomever you feel it is necessary to inform to ensure the best possible care of myself and especially for the baby. I will comply with your instructions to the best of my own ability, though I already feel that I'll be having to make future adjustments in behavior and diet that I'm not going to be the happiest with."
Phlox smiled, "I'm glad you're taking this so well. I had worried that I'd still be standing over your fainted body on the floor." She shrugged but gave him a smile and he nodded. "I will be as discrete as possible and leave it to you to tell anyone on board of your pregnancy. I see no reason why anyone on the ship should know as your personal health is of no concern to them." He patted her shoulder and spoke softly, "I will do everything I can to keep this from turning you into a circus show. Already your privacy is seen as a risk to people who do not know you and now with this," Phlox shook his head, "I can only hope that there will be others on Vulcan and Earth who won't look at you merely as a fascinating science hypothesis come to life. And," he stood up straight, "I am sorry if my behavior towards you has ever made you feel that way."
"No," Elonat stood and took hold of one of his hands, "you never have. And I sincerely appreciate your discretion and sentiments. I do trust that you have my best interest at heart." She squeezed his hand then let go. She let the animal-noise filled silence reign a moment before she shrugged. "So do I get my first shot now or-?"
Phlox rushed off to get her medicine. Elonat looked again at the screens and let reality sink in more. She was no longer alone in this universe. For as long as this baby survived, she had someone to call her own, someone with whom she could create a family unit. Elonat smiled. She never would've thought herself to be the type to be excited at the prospect of children, especially unplanned ones, yet here she stood. The likelihood of ever meeting Jikain again was slim to none and so unless she came across someone whom she could trust her and her offspring's heart to enough to call husband, she would remain alone, raising this child. Her child. Elonat placed both hands over her abdomen. In her head she felt the katras stir and she imagined she felt the baby move too—though it was certainly too early to feel such things. Yes, though unplanned, this child seemed to be just the thing she'd been wanting and needing in this universe.
