Chapter 10

"Will you be alright here with him?" Rose looks at me.

"Yep."

"Are you sure?" She raises an eyebrow at me and I nod impatiently.

"Yes. I have my own children—remember? I'm perfectly capable of watching Noah for a few hours. I'll probably teach him a few card games or whatever." I shrug and she smiles at me.

"Alright." She pats on shoulder and walks out of 'my' room. I raise and walk towards the living room where Sky and Amichai are both watching little Noah intently.

"Sit!" He shouts as he hops up and down excitedly and waves the meatball in his hand around in the air. "Come on! Sit, Sky!" Amichai sits but Noah doesn't give him the treat; the wolf's ears flatten back sadly and he slinks away.

"Here." Khan hands me a communicator. "Just in case." He says and they walk out of the door, leaving the two of us alone.

I fish a hot dog out of the fridge and slip to Amichai. He growls happily and wags his tail. For the next thirty minutes I help Noah teach Sky how to sit on command. She learns it ten.

…

"So, want to learn how to play Poker?" I ask Noah and he cocks his head to the side.

"What's that?"

"The best card game ever invented." I reply with a smile. We use apple slices, orange wedges, and grapes as poker chips. By the time Khan and Rose return, Noah is finally beginning to win.

"Are you teaching my son poker?" Khan asks and I nod as I raise the stakes by a grape. Noah smirks and ducks his head so Khan can't see his facial expression—wise move. Niether of them seem too happy with me right now.

"Yep." I say calmly and we show each other our cards: Noah won. I frown at him and he giggles happily at me and raises his hands in victory.

"You're teaching a three year old how to gamble?" She says incredulously and her eyes go wide.

"Yes…want to play with us?" I ask and she picks Noah up.

"Come on, honey. Bed time." She glares at me before carrying Noah up to his room and Khan hides a smirk.

"So…" I say slowly. "Gambling is morally wrong?" I ask and he nods.

"Yes." He says.

"Hm. Maybe someone should just write a book or a list on morality and I can study it. It'd make moments like this less…awkward…" I say and Khan smirks and sits across from me. He gathers up all the cards and reshuffles the deck.

"And where would be the fun of that?" He asks as he deals the cards out.

I win the game.

…

Everyone is asleep. The sun is just beginning to rise outside. Amichai and I slip out the door and walk out into the snow. My bag is resting lightly on my shoulders and I have Khan's coat and boots on again. Amichai trots through the snow and barks contently. He had been acting squirrely all night. He arcs his back into a long stretch and yawns widely before trotting away from the house.

"Where are you going?" I ask him quietly.

He glances back at me over his shoulder but continues to jog away from me. I shake my head and follow after him. Surely, they couldn't object to us going for a walk, right? Our 'walk' goes on for hours with Amichai trotting farther and farther away. His ears are flicked up in anticipation and his nose anxiously sniffs the air.

"We should go back." I say. They'll be wondering where we are soon. "Come on, Amichai. Let's go." He doesn't listen to me. A loud ringing fills my ears and my eyes flit to the sky. A large burning ship is racing straight for us.

"Run, Amichai!" I scream as I break into a wild sprint. "RUN!"

We raise away and the ringing turns into a deafening shriek. I can feel the heat coming off of the aircraft as it rapidly drops lower and lower to the surface. I don't know where to run—the ground is flat here! There are no caves to hide it! Amichai runs ahead of me. He howls as the ship collides angrily into the snow about twenty meters away and crashes into a large canyon wall. Flames leap greedily all along the outside hull. I pant and survey the damage.

No one is coming out.

Oh no.

I race over to it and scamper inside. Smoke obscures my vision and burns my lungs but I don't care. I move quickly to the pilot's chair and pause as surprise blossoms within my chest: Captain Kirk. What in the world? What was he doing here? I slip his seat belt off and drag him out into the snow.

"Pull him away from the ship!" I order Amichai as I rush back inside for the next one: Spock. I pull him out and race back inside to check to see in anyone else is inside. I find the last person within minutes: Cassie. Amichai runs back to drag Spock away and I drag Cassie away from the wreck and look at the ship carefully. If it was on fire then it was likely that it could explode. It was a good thing we were far away from the aircraft.

I pant and drop to my knees in the snow as I survey the three.

They're all unconscious but breathing. That's a good sign.

…

"I'd have rather you left Mr. Spock in the ship." Khan walks up and I glance at him. His face gives away no emotion.

"Is that a joke?" I ask him and he shakes his head.

"No."

"You're a jerk." I remark and I rise to my feet and shiver as the wind picks up.

"Am I now?"

I sigh and check on Cassie. She's breathing raggedly in and out. There may be some smoke damage to her lungs but no other complications seem to be manifesting.

"So are you going to help me get them back to your place or am I on my own here?" I ask and he scowls at me.

"Of course I'll help you." He says and he walks away from me.

"Where are you going? They're over here!" I shout after him.

"Just keep them warm." He yells back and he breaks into a run.

Gee, thanks for the advice.

…

He returns with a snowmobile that's dragging a fairly large sled behind it. I sigh: this was his great plan? They'll freeze before ever reaching his home…unless that is his true intention. I frown at him and he smirks.

"Relax." He throws a bag at me and I catch it. "I brought blankets. Help me get them on the sled."

We work quickly and before I know it we're racing back towards his place. Amichai rides on the sled with the others and I sit behind Khan on the snowmobile. We ride in silence and I look back frequently to make sure that no one has fallen off. So far, no one has.

"More guests?" Rose asks when we arrive and I blink at her in surprise. How could she have possibly known?

"It would appear so." Khan grabs Kirk under the arms and Rose moves to get Cassie. I sigh. I guess I get Spock…jeez. Why does he have to be so heavy?

"Let me get him." Khan says as he walks back out.

"You'll hurt him." I grunt as I grab him under the arms and back up slowly, but I can barely move him. Khan chuckles at me.

"You're stubborn," He remarks as he grabs Spock from me. "I won't hurt him unless he gives me reason too. Come, let's go in. It's only going to get colder, Ze'eva."

"Don't need to tell me twice." I rush past him and hold the door open and he grunts in acknowledgement.

"Who are they?" Noah asks.

"Friends of mine," I tell him and I hear Cassie cough in the other guest room (there are two guests room: mine and a spare).

"Where am I?" She calls and I find my way to her. "Ze'eva!" She shouts. She struggles to her feet and drags me into a suffocating embrace. I flinch at the sudden display of affection and try to wriggle out of her suffocating hold and she laughs into my ear. "You're alive!" She shouts and I can feel tears trickling down her cheeks and she begins to laugh. What happened? Is she broken? "You're alive!" She says again and she holds me at an arm's length away to look me over and she frowns a little. "You've lost a lot of weight."

I wriggle away from her, "It's nice to see you." I smile and Noah stands shyly in the doorway. "Come on in," I beckon to him. "Meet my friend. Cassie," I say when Noah approaches. "This is Noah. Noah, this is Cassie."

"Hi." He says shyly and Cassie smiles warmly at the tyke.

"Hello," She extends her hand to shake and he accepts it hesitantly. "It's nice to meet Mr. Noah."

"Are you okay?" I ask Cassie after Noah leaves to go inspect the others. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." She leans back against the walls and I check her lungs with a stethoscope.

"Well, your lungs sound good." I sit down on the ground and Cassie sits too. I can't stop smiling—this is so awesome! She's actually here! My best friend is here! It's so great to see her; we have so much to catch up on.

"Your family is doing well." She answers my question before I even have a chance to ask it. "Everyone is okay and so are most of the SAR people. Alieth went to New Vulcan and Spock had some people get her settled. She misses you; I can tell." Cassie smiles at me. "And your kids are doing great. They miss their mom but they're hanging in there."

"Thanks." I lean my head back against the wall and ease my eyes shut and Cassie laughs at me. "How've you been?" I ask.

"Okay, I guess." She yawns. "We've been trying to find you. Marcus is still in power but we're fighting back politically. Many people are saying that he should he put in jail because of his involvement with Sector 31 and the whole Khan thing and that movement is starting to get a lot of momentum. Sector 31 is taking a lot of bad press right now: I wouldn't be surprised if it was closed down completely. What about you? Anything new?"

I shrug and keep my eyes closed. "Sector 31 had recaptured me after I tried to escape. They went to transport me to a different facility and crash landed here. Khan took me in. Asides from that," I look at her. "Nothing has changed."

"This is not our ship." I hear Spock remark and I crane my neck around to see him standing in the doorway. "It would appear that Cassandra was correct in her theory that you were not deceased." He looks at me and I laugh.

"It's nice to see you too, Spock. How's the Captain?" I ask.

"He is currently arguing with Mr. Singh." Spock says and Noah walks up.

"Mom says dinner ready." Noah says and he glances up at Spock and frowns. "You look funny: your ears are pointy. Are you an elf?"

"I am a Vulcan." Spock says and Cassie covers her mouth to hide a laugh and Spock glares at her. She coughs to hide her amusement and Spock turns his attention back to the toddler.

"Is 'Vulcan' code for 'elf'?" Noah asks.

"No." Spock says stiffly.

"I think you're lying. I think you are an elf. You have elf ears."

"Vulcans do not lie."

"Hey!" I clap my hands and Spock looks a little relieved. "Let's get some food. Come on, Noah. Lead the way." The little boy smiles and runs towards the kitchen and Spock sighs.

"Thank you." He says and I grin at him.

"Anytime."