Author's note: This chapter could not have happened if it wasn't for my awesome husband who was kind enough to write the fight scenes for me.
Kirk, Spock, and Sulu took the shuttlecraft down to the asteroid that housed one of the monestaries of Vulcan; one that had not been destroyed by the black hole that Nero had created. The monestary did not stand out in any way from any other Vulcan monestary. It was built entirely with geometric design and archetecture. It was tall and open, containing no doors or windows, just walls made of stone. Vulcan archetecture was based upon the harsh desert planet's climate and seismic activity. This meant that often to distinguish between rooms one room was on a different level than another. This monestary also seemed to have many different levels. Outside the monestary was a grand courtyard and garden, created solely for a peaceful place to meditate or think.
The shuttlecraft landed behind a small hill of boulders as not to be seen. The ship in the sky had landed before the shuttlecraft had even taken off from the Enterprise. It was not immediately apparent who the shuttlecraft belonged to, but it seemed to be a cargo ship outfitted with weapons. "I suggest that we investigate the ship first." Spock suggested to Sulu and the Captain.
The Captain nodded and then turned to his men. "Good idea, Mr. Spock. I have a plan." Kirk grinned which caused Spock to raise a brow and then Sulu 's face to change to a very worried expression. Kirk having a plan always made them have some kind of adverse reaction. They had not yet gotten used to Kirk's plans somehow always seeming to work just fine. Kirk gestured for his officers to follow him to the cargo ship.
The seven foot, hairy Nausicaan sat in the chair that was entirely too small for his large frame. Two long tusks hung from his face and his large fingers poked at buttons upon the ship's console. The Nausicaans had seized this ship and was currently using it for raids, but none of them quite had the handle of the spacecraft that was not built for their large and stocky bodies. I hope there's only this one. Kirk said to himself as he just strutted onto the bridge and then circled to the right side of the Nausicaan. "Hey, how are ya? Can you help me? I think I took a wrong turn at Albuqurque." Kirk gave a smile, one that rivaled Bugs Bunny even as he stole the ancient animated character's line.
The Nausicaan stood up and brandished a weapon. It wasn't a phaser or laser, thankfully. Kirk didn't understand the language, but he knew he was being threatened. Kirk held up both hands. "Whoa whoa whoa, Cupcake. I don't mean any harm. You see, I'm on vacation with my family and my wife is just nagging and nagging me. 'get directions, get directions'. You know women, right? Can't live with them, can't feed them to the Cloverfield Monster." Kirk shrugged.
The Nausicaan started forward and Kirk's eyes widened as he inched backwards. He hit a console. There was no where else to go unless he ran. Maybe...he could just reach his phaser in time...
Then there was a quick movement and the Nausicaan twisted around and then fell to the ground. Spock had neckpinched the giant thing. "Took your time, didn't you?" Kirk accused his first officer, though he was really thankful that it had worked. That Vulcan neckpinch was scary effective.
"There wasn't a prime opportunity." Spock answered, his face holding more annoyance than ever. It was as if he wasn't even trying to suppress his emotions now.
"Yeah, okay. Search the ship for more of those hairy things. Sulu, you go that way. Spock, that way. We'll meet right here in five minutes." The three officers split up and without any other interaction, all of them were back at the bridge of the cargo ship within five minutes.
Sulu was the one who had found something interesting. "I found a cargo bay, Captain. It is full of relics, art, and furniture. Most of it appears to be Vulcan." Sulu reported. The other two officers then followed Sulu to the cargo bay. Indeed, the stolen items onboard were of Vulcan origin.
Kirk looked it all over. "What are they doing with it? They don't look like the type that are into fine art."
Spock interjected, "Nausicaans are notoriously known as pirates. I would assess that they plan on selling it for a profit."
Sulu added, "Vulcan relics will be making a spike in price because of their rarity."
Spock nodded and Kirk sighed. "Well, first we need to tie up ugly back there. Then we need to get into that monestary. Sulu, ground the ship so that if they come back here, they can't take off." Kirk knew that Sulu was just as talented as making something not fly as he was as making it fly.
Soon, the trio were making their way to the monestary. So far they had found no one else, not even any Vulcans. Spock explained that the monks would likely have retreated into the meditation room as to avoid confrontation. They were pacifists and would not fight the Nausicaans themselves. This made the monestary easy pickings for the pirate group.
The entryway into the temple was marked by a large stone arch which had the words of Surak engraved within the stone in Vulcan. The three carefully stepped into the temple and as Spock had said, not a Vulcan was in sight. The main room was grand, but narrow hallways would lead to other rooms that were not separated by doors. This meant that at any time one of the pirates could jump out at them or see them without them meaning for it to happen. This made sneaking around very difficult.
Soon, though, the trio had arrived where three Nausicaans were attempting to carry a rather large statue of a Vulcan priestess upon their backs. Sulu withdrew his sword so that he would be ready. He gripped the handle tightly, though smirked as he replied to his fellow crewmembers. "There's exactly three of them. That's incredibly convenient."
Kirk had to smile at that comment and then said, "Great, one for each of us. I'll take the ugly one."
Sulu asked with humor, "Which one is the ugly one?"
Seeing as at the moment they had the element of surprise, the three blocked the doorway with phasers in hand. "Stop!" Kirk called out to them, hoping they had a translator, but seriously doubting it. "I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Under Federation law I order you to put down the statue this instant." The Nausicaans shouted at each other and then to them, but Kirk didn't understand a word they were saying. He only knew that they were not putting down the statue.
Before the away team could react, the Nausicaans threw the heavy statue at them. Kirk, Spock, and Sulu dropped their phasers to catch the stonework and worked carefully to set the ancient piece down, though Sulu still had his sword in his other hand. The pirates then pulled their heavy bladed knives out of hidden sheathes and charged.
The three giants stomped directly at Sulu, the only crewman who was still brandishing any sort of weapon. As one of the Nausicaans flanked the wary helmsman, his knife raised to stab Sulu in the back, the Captain yelled, "Hey! Three against one doesn't sound like fair odds to me!", and grabbed the upward wrist. He then pulled backwards with all his might, his leg behind the Nausicaan backstabber. Three hundred plus pounds of Nausicaan hit the ground hard, yet he managed to keep his weapon and roll backwards to his feet.
Spock simultaneously grabbed another of the antagonistic aliens and threw him to the side. The Nausicaan stood there in a knife fighter's stance, waiting to see what the Vulcan would do. The smile on his tusked face seemed to indicate that the Nausicaan thought that this was not going to be a fair fight; not that such a thing mattered to him. With a strange look of glee on his face, reminiscent of a long forgotten devil, Spock jumped at the alien. The power of the blow on the pirate's knife hand was enough to shatter the bones in the giant's wrist. The rogue fell to his knees, clutching his broken wrist as he screamed. No longer certain of his very survival, let alone his victory, the pirate started to scurry backwards. "Ahhhhhhhh!!!," came the came the shout from the Captain, just as the Vulcan was about to deal the death blow.
Spock whirled around to see his friend standing upright with blood pouring down his chest. Even under the throes of Pon Farr, Spock's superior brain quickly understood what had happened to his friend. Two diagonal slashes just in front of Kirk's arms were gushing blood. They were meant to immobilize his arms; leaving his muscles little in the way of leverage for a fight. The Nausicaan that the Captain "drew" seemed to be an excellent knife fighter with much experience. Spock picked up the knife that his victim had dropped and threw it with uncanny accuracy and power for a pacifist. The blade sunk deep into the shoulder of the blood fevered Nausicaan. The pirate pulled the knife out of his shoulder with a grunt and dropped it to the ground. He stepped over to Spock and shifted his knife to his uninjured arm. He seemed wary, but ready to fight. His labored breathing could barely be heard over the sound of clanging steel in the corner.
Sulu's blade was flashing in the dim light of the Vulcan monestary just as fast as he could accurately swing it. The Nausicaan was parrying, slashing, and evading the sword blows coming at him with a flourish. He also seemed to be quite a knife fighter. It seemed that all of the thieves were probably well versed in fighting with knives, though Spock was able to finish his adversary quickly because of his greater strength and a surprise blow. The attacks and counter attacks were starting to come much slower now, as each opponent realized that the fight wasn't going to be won by speed or power of blows but through tactics. A faint here, a counter attack there. Shifting their feet and their balance, trying to make the other fighter believe that the killing blow was going to come from one direction when truly an attack was going to come from another. Finally, after minutes of battle, Sulu threw his blade at his attacker. The surprised Nausicaan caught the sword just as Sulu kicked him in the side of the knee. With the sound of tearing tendons and muscle, the Nausicaan's kneecap slid sideways and he fell to the ground in agony. Sulu looked up as he heard the Captain yell, "No, Spock!"
Spock was standing over his vanquished foe, a knife in his hands poised to plunge in to the unconscious pirate's heart. "No, Spock!" yells Kirk again. "That's an order!"
Spock's head whirled to meet his Captain. those eyes sent a tremor of fear in Captain Kirk that he had not felt before with his first officer. There was rage behind those brown eyes. Rage, loss of control, and murderous intent. Kirk would have reached out his arm, if he could move them and it was taking much of his strength just to speak. Spock had every intention on killing that Nausicaan. There was no doubt in his mind. "Spock..." Kirk began again, the desperation clear in his voice. Spock's muscles were tight, his forehead crinkled with tension and his lips a thin line. Spock's fingers gripped the knife so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. After a moment that seemed to last for years, Spock pried his fingers from the knife and violently hurled the knife aside. He then raised himself from his bloodied foe. The Nausicaan's blood soaked Spock's uniform and green mixed with it, indicating that Spock had not come out of the fight unscathed. Spock visually trembled, as if just now realizing what he had done, what he'd been about to do.
It was then that the Vulcan monks emerged from the meditation room to meet those who had answered their distress call. Sulu was holding Kirk upright as Kirk leaned heavily upon him, becoming more weakened by the moment. "We have come to express gratitude for your prompt answer to our distress signal." The Vulcan did not look at Spock, for he had recognized a Vulcan male in the throes of Pon Farr and out of respect refused to meet the young half breed's eyes. Instead, the monk concentrated upon Kirk. "We will take back our artifacts from the cargo ship as you have disarmed the pirates. Please, see to your own health and worry no more of our complication." The Vulcans would then give them the traditional Vulcan greeting to which Sulu and Spock both met. "Live long and Prosper."
"Peace and long life." Spock answered and then helped Sulu with carrying a woozy and pained Kirk back to the shuttlecraft.
Bones exclaimed in horror the moment that the shuttlecraft landed and the tro exited the craft. Bones had a feeling he'd better go to the landing bay, and when he saw the wounds sustained by the captain, he cursed that he was always right. "Dammit, Jim! How is this mission going to last if you go risking your life for every damed thing that comes along?" Scans were made and Bones was getting the hypospray ready, swearing under his breath the entire time.
"I love you too, Bones." Kirk managed a haphazard smirk to his chief medical officer and good friend.
"Quiet, Kid. I don't want to hear another word out of that cocky mouth. Sulu, get him to the sickbay." Bones insisted
"Can't Bones." Kirk managed lifting a hand to protest. He was feeling woozy from loss of blood and his arms were barely functional, but he had managed. "I have a wedding to perform."
"Like Hell..." Bones started, but then Spock interjected.
"That wont' be necessary, Captain."
All eyes turned with disbelief to the first officer who, despite being entirely covered with the blood of both himself and two large Nausicaans, looked elegantly poised and calm. Kirk looked extremely confused as to why something that was a matter of life and death just a few hours ago now seemed to be completely despensable. Kirk's eyes quickly went to Uhura, who stood ready in her wedding dress. She held her head high, appearing confident, professional, and beautiful as ever, but there was a sadness in her eyes and a defeat of pride at the prospect that she was being jilted at the altar. Kirk insisted, "Explain, Spock."
"Koon-ut-kal-i-fee, or the sacred wedding ceremony is translated to marriage or challenge-most often a fight to the death. One of those two incidents is the only method proven to break plak tow." Spock explained as he would any other biological report to the captain. "I believe the altercation with the Nausicaan pirates was successful in doing so. Therefore the ceremony needs not to take place."
"Spock, can I talk to you for a minute?" Uhura asked sweetly, with the nicest smile that she could muster her would-be husband. Spock nodded and the two of them stepped to the side, away from the eyes that no doubtedly followed them to that spot. Uhura tried to hide the hurt she felt, but the emotional distress was evident in her voice, which stammered just a bit to sound less than confident. "Spock.." She looked down a moment, catching herself before she'd do something ridiculous, like cry. "I understand that we don't have to go through with it. I know it wasn't something we'd talked about, and that we never made any plans about the future..." Uhura searched his eyes looking for something, anything that would indicate how he really felt about the situation. She was attempting to look into his soul.
"Our previous relationship can now resume along its normal course." Spock replied. There it was, that softening of his voice, the indication that he was doing it for her, not himself. Uhura allowed a small smile to grace her full lips. She knew what she must do. She knew how to get through to that thick, Vulcan skull.
"Yes, it can. However..." She took a step forward and replied, "if it does then you still do not have a wife. You still do not have a bondmate. This means that everything will happen again in another seven years. You'll have to go through it all again, the difficulties, the pain, the loss of control. Do you really want to do this again in seven years time?"
Spock arched a brow suddenly and Uhura grinned widely as he replied, "Your logic is sound." Spock turned to the rest of the crew who had not even pretended to take their eyes off the couple as they spoke. "The ceremony will continue."
