9

Madeline Pike heard the crunch of gravel under tires on the driveway, heard the engine of the old car die as the key was taken out of the ignition, the door open and close again, and counted the footsteps from the driveway to the front door. She felt so sorry for Jim Kirk, that this awful responsibility lay on his shoulders, but Madeline knew he wouldn't have let anyone else bring the devastating news to her. As his hesitant footsteps mounted the stairs and crossed the porch, Madeline got up from the couch and went to the front door. She opened it to him and knew he had only stopped at home long enough to get a coat and find his keys, he was still in uniform. She had already shed her tears for Christopher, but the utter despair and deep human sadness in the eyes of the young Starfleet Captain brought a new sting to her eyes. Madeline did the only maternal thing she could think of and hugged Jim.

Raised in the traditions of a world and a people not his own but closer than any biological bond could ever make them as a family, Jim had always been good at internalizing his more impulsive emotions. When Madeline embraced him, she gave him permission to let go of that hard-won control that was almost second nature to him after so many years of practical, useful training. And he did let go, so Madeline held him as she might have a young child, as she would soon hold her own unborn child. She knew in her heart that the tears Jim Kirk shed were not only for her late brother, but for all of the Vulcans who had been unable to escape the destruction of the home-world.

Born Human, raised Vulcan, Jim was truly one of a kind. He spoke six languages including English, some said he spoke Vulcan more fluently than he spoke his mother-tongue, and was incredibly intelligent, but he also had a long brash streak that tended to get him into trouble. But he also had what it took to be a leader of men, to earn the respect and trust of the men and women for whom he was responsible as their Captain. He didn't have Christopher's stern, imposing demeanor, the one that earned him the undying respect and loyalty of the people he was responsible for, but Jim didn't need those things to be good at what he did. Jim had the ability to think quickly on his feet, react in a situation demanding instant decision-making, and ten years of Vulcan upbringing to get him through the hardest experiences.

Several minutes later, she was busy in the kitchen while Jim dozed on the couch. She knew he had come out to take care of her, and somewhere along the way their places had been switched, but she didn't mind. Sometimes the strong needed a place to let their guard down, and Madeline was glad Jim felt safe enough in her home to let his guard down like that.

True to his word, Jim only stayed a few hours with Madeline Pike before taking his leave and driving home. He asked her what she wanted done with the body, explaining her husband's dying wish as conveyed to him in a dream. He knew she wouldn't think him crazy, so he told her everything precluding her husband's quiet death.

"His last request was to be buried on the Vulcan colony world, but I'll bow to your preferences as the widow." He wanted to remain loyal to his deceased Captain, but if Madeline wanted something else done, he'd let her make the choice.

"I know where I'd like to see my husband laid to rest, Jim." Madeline smiled at him, her affect sad, "Ask Ambassador Sarek if his people would erect a memorial stone to my husband. I would see him laid to rest honorably in Arlington." It was fitting, he thought, for Pike to be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes of centuries gone were laid in honor. He would speak to Sarek soon and see about putting something up to memorialize Christopher Pike per the late Captain's own dying wish. After settling on arrangements to have Captain Pike buried in Arlington, Jim went home. He didn't pull into the garage right away, cutting the engine just outside. As he sat there, the front door opened and Spock stepped out. Jim sighed, folding his hands over the top of the steering wheel and resting his chin there. Spock locked the house, pocketed the key, and got into the passenger's seat.

"What did she say?" he asked as they got on the road.

"She wants to bury him in Arlington. I understand why, but that's not what he wanted. Do I respect my Captain's dying wish, or the wishes of his living widow?"

"She does not understand the importance of his interment on the colony world."

"I don't think she does. I don't know how to tell her Pike died for our people." Jim looked out at the road and saw a familiar turn-off ahead. Bizarre inspiration hit and at the dirt road, he turned, drove through the crooked gates, and stopped twenty feet from the edge of the cliff. He killed the engine and got out, walking to the edge.

"What are you doing?" Spock came out, "Where are we?"

"This is the old Waterside Quarry. It hasn't been used since I was probably twelve years old. The older kids would come out here and having drinking parties and bonfires. The cops made a fortune off of busting late-nighters." Jim chuckled, "I didn't come out here all that often."

"What draws you?"

"Memory." He kicked a stone off the cliff and watched it fall, "Down there somewhere is the wreckage of my step-father's old Porche. He just about killed me when he found out what I'd done to it, but it was never something I regretted."

"Destruction of private property is vandalism. Why weren't you sorry?"

"Because it brought me to Leiani, and later to you." He dropped to a crouch in the dust, "I couldn't believe my good fortune when the courts named Leiani my sole legal guardian. I'd known her for years by then, she was my friend."

"She saved your life."

"Yeah, she did." Jim sighed, "My life completely turned around. The night I met Pike, I went into that bar with no idea what I was doing there."

"Maybe you did know, you just weren't aware of it at the time." Spock crouched beside him, "It brought you this far, didn't it?"

"Spock, that was three years ago!" He drew in the dirt, "Three years ago, I called Vulcan and told your parents I was enlisting in Starfleet. Your father was so proud of me!"

"You are his Human son, Jim. What did you expect?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Jim looked up at the sky, "Now look at us, Spock, look where we are. What we're doing."

"Impressive, entirely unexpected, and nothing I would do different and certainly nothing I regret." Spock got up, dusted off his jeans, which Jim now realized were his jeans, and held out one hand. They ended up sitting on the hood of the Mustang for an hour, just enjoying the quiet of the abandoned quarry and the company of each other. As it grew dark, Jim started the car and drove towards town.

"Where are we going now?"

"Lew's Bar, an old hangout of mine. It's where I met Pike." He wondered if Lew would remember him after three years and a handful of months. Well, there was one way to find out. As they parked, he didn't miss the noise, the music, the laughter streaming from the bar. As he got out of the Mustang and waited for Spock, a cluster of red-uniformed twenty-one and twenty-two year-olds passed them.

"Well, that much hasn't changed." He shoved his hands into his pockets after he locked the car, "This is a popular hangout for Cadets and civilian recruits."

"I can tell." Spock viewed the scene with his characteristic detachment. Jim unzipped his jacket as they entered the noisy bar. It was humming with voices, laughter, music. For some reason, he felt angry. Well, more sad than angry. A Starfleet officer had died and these people were celebrating? Ugh. Jim looked around and couldn't see a single solitary soul above the age of twenty-four. Shaking his head, he picked his way to the bar. It felt so different to be here as an officer, not as a civilian or a Cadet. He sat down at an empty stool and reached for the drink-menu.

"I know you don't drink, but do you want anything?" he looked at Spock, "If nothing else, we can drink to Captain Pike."

"Gladly." Spock just nodded. It was obvious the noise bothered him. It bothered Jim, too, quite frankly. Lew was busy cleaning glasses and taking orders, he didn't even see them sitting there. Jim reached out as the bartender passed them by for the third time and caught his sleeve.

"Hey, Lew!" he called above the music. The bartender turned, caught sight of him, and his jaw dropped open.

"Jim Kirk! God bless us all! What are you doing in here? You haven't been here in…what, three years?"

"Yeah, just about."

"Not since you walked out of here with Captain Pike." Lew picked up two glasses and set them on the bar, "So, what can I get you boys?"

"Uh, two Saurian Ales."

"Sure, no problem." Lew grinned, "Never thought I'd live to see the day you came walking back in here, Jim. What are you doing in town?"

"Taking care of business before I head back to San Francisco for graduation."

"A year ahead of time? What happened?"

"A lot of stuff happened. You guys didn't hear about it?" Jim wasn't too surprised word of the Nero incident hadn't gotten this far yet. Lew shook his head as he set their orders on the bar.

"Sure we did!" a boisterous voice from his left got Jim's attention, "Seven Starfleet vessels launched from Earth to Vulcan on a mercy mission and got themselves blown to bits by the Romulans! Vulcan went next, I hear."

"Huh?" Lew was baffled, "Vulcan's gone?"

"Man-made singularity consumed it from the planetary core." Jim took a sip of his ale, trying to drown the bitter taste left by memories.

"How the hell did they do that?"

"Red matter, nasty stuff." The cocky Cadet snickered, "Blew himself up later. Bastard."

"I'm sorry, were you there, Cadet?"

"Nope, but I heard about it."

"From whom? Half the Senior Cadet class died at Vulcan. Those who survived served with me on the Enterprise." Jim turned to face the younger man, his junior only by two years. Had he been that way once?

"Who are you?"

"Jim Kirk, currently the Enterprise's acting captain in the absence of Christopher Pike. I was there, on Vulcan, I watched the planet destroy itself thanks to Nero and his bastards. I also had the pleasure of blowing him straight to Kingdom Come and back."

"We both did." Spock corrected bitterly. Jim shrugged.

"What's your name?"

"Gordy Cheston."

"Second-year?"

"Yep."

"Thought so." Jim twisted his glass, took a gulp, and looked at Cheston, "Word to the wise, kid."

"Yeah?"

"Don't get smart with your superiors. Learn a little respect." Finishing his drink, he left a tip under the glass, got up, and turned away, "Good night, Lew."

"Night, Jim." Lew waved as they left.

"You walked away from that?" Spock whispered as they reached the car.

"Half the fights I got into I didn't start." He rubbed the back of his neck, "God, if I was ever like Cheston, I have a lot of apologizing to do. He's only two years younger and I can't stand him!"

"Experience has a way of maturing a man. You learned that the hard way, Solen." Spock got into the Mustang. Starting the engine, he left Lew's Bar and headed south for the Shipyards. When he could see the cranes and pylons, he pulled off the road.

"I heard rumor they were building a new ship down here." He looked out the windshield, "There she is, Spock."

"She's nearly finished."

"Looks good, don't she?" He got out and sat on the hood, "That's the Enterprise-A. I'll give her a year and a half before they set her loose." They watched the Enterprise-A for an hour before going home. Jim realized that, in a single afternoon, he had relived half of his lifetime. First the quarry, then Lew's Bar, and now the Shipyards. He slept well that night, kept warm by Spock sleeping behind him.

Three days later, Jim found himself standing before a memorial headstone in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. with Spock, Uhura, Bones, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Madeline Pike. He and Spock had gone back and spoken to Madeline again the morning after his first visit, explained to her the importance of Captain Pike being laid to rest on the Vulcan colony world, and she had consented to the original plan. A memorial headstone had been placed in Arlington to honor Pike's service to the Federation, to Starfleet, and his ultimate sacrifice. After a benediction had been given by a priest, Madeline and the others left the memorial one by one.

"The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one or the few. Christopher Pike was an honorable, good man. May he rest in peace." Jim turned from the memorial stone, leaving the cemetery with Spock. They picked up a shuttle to San Francisco, the trip home was quiet and solemn.

A month after Captain Pike's memorial service in D.C., the Enterprise set out again with a new captain. They had been asked by Starfleet Command to transport a number of Vulcans to Zeta Tarandi, and also carried the body of Captain Pike for interment on the colony world in accordance with his last wishes as passed along to the new captain.