Author's Notes: This chapter has a few references to the main Star Trek universe and the 2009 film, so spoiler alert.)
Chapter Eleven
Jupiter Station
In orbit around the planet Jupiter
Sol System, United Federation of Planets
Early July, 2185
Another two weeks later and the reconstruction of Juliet's DNA was finally complete. She looked just as young and beautiful as Justin remembered her being before she lost her vampire powers. But due to her multiple organ failure she was still kept in a medically induced coma until her new replicated organs could be acquired to replace her old ones.
Before Phlox began on the reconstruction on Mason's DNA, he briefly took some time to rest and slept for two days straight while Alex waited impatiently for him to awaken. Alex, on the other hand, had avoided speaking to Jim since the night she was "escorted" back to the apartment by the Androians and he had chewed her out for her disobedience to the rule of Starfleet. She kept herself entertained with her magic and spoke only to Harper, Justin, Max, and on occasions to Phlox only.
When Phlox awoke he and Jim left the apartment for a few hours and visited the bar where Alex had been caught illegally visiting. Phlox suggested that while Mason's DNA was reconstructing, Jim take Alex and the others back to Earth and with a sample of Juliet's DNA make a trip to the future to acquire a fresh set of internal organs. And when they returned Phlox would happily transplant them. Jim agreed figuring that getting away from the station would soften Alex's attitude toward him and maybe she would begin to speak to him again.
Once they returned to the apartment Jim told the others of Phlox's suggestion and only Harper and Max was interested in returning to Earth and going to the future. Justin said he would stay at the station with Phlox and Juliet. Alex only agreed after Harper asked her to accompany them. Hours later the time travelers, minus Justin, were back on Earth and in Golden Gate Park and as they were about to get into the DeLorean, Alex abruptly pushed her way in front of Max and got into the back seat with Harper leaving Max to ride shotgun.
~-+-~
Starfleet Medical
San Francisco, California, USA
Earth, United Federation of Planets
Stardate 67499.77 (Early July, 2390)
Jim, Alex, Harper, and Max entered into the main complex of Starfleet Medical and approached the information desk where a few administrative workers sat behind their own respective computer monitor terminals.
"Welcome to Starfleet Medical! How may I be of assistance?" asked a human woman who appeared to be in her mid forties.
Jim stepped forward and spoke his request.
"I need a list of organs replicated, please." said Jim.
"Sure." said the woman. "What species?"
"Human." replied Jim.
"Okay, and do you have a DNA sample for the doctors go by?" asked the woman.
"Got it right here." said Jim as he handed a memory node to the woman.
"Very well, Mr.......uh?" said the woman coaxing for Jim's name.
"Alcorn." Jim replied. "Jim Alcorn."
The woman suddenly had a look of realization on her face.
"Jim Alcorn!" she exclaimed. "The Jim Alcorn? As in one of the last to ever see Ambassador Spock before his disappearance?" (A/N: Star Trek 2009 film reference)
Her look then faded into that of accusation.
"Do you know where he is?" she asked. "Because everyone is looking for him.
"I gave my testimony to the council three years ago." said Jim. "As for the whereabouts of Ambassador Spock, I have no idea where he could be. Could I just get the organs please?"
"Very well." said the woman. "Please have a seat while the doctors replicate them and I will let you know when they are ready."
"Thank you." said Jim.
He, Harper, Max, and Alex went to sit down in a nearby waiting area.
"It seems you're well known even this far into the future." said Harper with slight impress in her voice.
"Of course." said Jim. "After all most of the technology of the DeLorean and my firehouse comes from this time period. Even my doctor."
"Who was that missing ambassador guy that woman was talking about?" asked Max.
"Ambassador Spock." Jim replied. "He's a highly honored Vulcan Starfleet official who went missing a few years ago."
"What do you think happened to him?" asked Harper.
"Your guess is as good as mine." replied Jim. (A/N: spoiler for Star Trek 2009 The alternate universe created for the film is unknown to Jim and other Starfleet officials in this story.)
"Well give us your best guess as to what you think." said Max.
"I don't know Max." said Jim. "He might have time traveled. It wouldn't have been the first time for him. He and the crew of the first Federation starship Enterprise have time traveled on two occasions that I know of in the last century."
"To the past or future?" asked Max.
"The past." replied Jim. "And both times to the twentieth century. It's quite possible that he might have also traveled to an alternate universe as well and just hasn't been able to find a way back to ours."
"An alternate universe." said Max with slight confusion.
"Yeah." said Jim. "They exist you know. There have been several occasions where starships or just members of Starfleet have found themselves in an alternate universe in the past two hundred years or so."
"But they all managed to return to their own time and universe, right?" asked Harper.
"Right." replied Jim. "All except for Spock." he added with a far away look of expression on his face and slight sadness in his voice.
"Were you close with this Spock guy? "Were you friends with him?" Jim heard Harper ask.
At least he thought it was Harper that spoke to him. After a second of realization he turned to face Alex who was sitting on the other side of Harper and Max from him.
"Not like I'm friends with y'all." Jim replied with a half smile on his face. "From what I've read about Spock In the Federation history archives, he only had one true friend he served with on the Enterprise during the twenty third century. And coincidentally that man's name was also James."
"Really." said Alex without her recent ill attitude.
"Yes." said Jim. "So you're talking to me again after two weeks."
Alex lowered her head to look at the floor before she made eye contact with Jim again.
"I'm sorry about................what happened that night." she said. "I never should have left the apartment."
Jim was silent for a few moments as he let Alex's apology sink into him. He stood up and approached closer to her and she stood as well.
"Apology accepted." Jim said. "And I'm sorry I had to act all uncool and discipline-like in telling you not to cuss and get down from your high horse and all."
Alex burst out laughing followed by Harper and Max. After a few seconds Jim started laughing as well.
"'Get down from your high horse'." said Alex. "Is that the best you can do?"
"Hey I've never had to dish it out like that before." said Jim in his defense. "Tara has never given me any reason to discipline her in the year and a half she has lived with me. It's the first thing that came to my mind."
"You need to work on that if you're ever gonna have kids of your own." said Alex.
Jim smiled at her and she smiled back in return.
"Are we good?" he asked.
"We're good." she replied and then she embraced him in a tight hug.
"Mr. Alcorn." came the voice of the woman from the information desk.
Jim and Alex's embrace ended and Jim turned to face the woman.
"Your organs are ready now." said the woman.
"Wow!" exclaimed Harper. "That was fast."
"The future, Harper. The future." said Jim softly so the woman would not hear him.
He walked back over to the desk and accepted the memory node from the woman. Then they all left the complex and made their way back to the DeLorean.
"You got Juliet's new organs without having to pay for them?" asked Alex. "How did you manage that?
"Yeah! Do you have like some kind of credit here or something?" Harper asked.
"The United Federation of Planets is a currency free economy." replied Jim. "As long as there are the existence of replicators, money is obsolete."
"Cool!" exclaimed Max. "I wish I had a replicator. Tara said it's fun to have anything you want whenever you want it."
"Yeah, well I've had to restrict her use of the replicator a few times when she first came to live with me." said Jim. "But gradually over time she's learned not to be a glutton with it. Why would you want a replicator anyway, Max. You're wizards. Y'all have y'alls magic."
"We're also underage wizards." said Alex. "And the stupid wizards council keeps us from overindulging our use of magic."
"Really?" asked Jim "I had no idea."
They made it back to the DeLorean and this time Alex rode shotgun on their way back to the twenty second century.
~-+-~
Jupiter Station
In orbit around the planet Jupiter
Sol System, United Federation of Planets
Early July, 2185
They had returned to three days after they had departed to the future because that was when the next shuttle craft was due to head back to Jupiter Station from Earth. Once Phlox had received the memory node he began to materialize and transplant Juliet's old organs for her new ones one at a time. It took him about a day and a half and after he was finished Juliet was stabilized and able to breathe on her own without the use of life support. Phlox ended her medically induced coma and injected her with a drug that would awaken her. Justin was on pins and needles, so-to-speak, as she opened her eyes for the first time in over a month to her, but in reality, one hundred and seventy five years.
Juliet's P.O.V.
At first she had utterly no idea where she was. The last thing she could recall was passing out near the outskirts of the village near the mummy's courtyard. She was heartbroken over Justin and had made it at least that far with her frail legs that had just recently and rapidly changed to reflect her true age. Before everything went dark, she thought she heard someone yelling in Romanian for an ambulance. Now she was in a place she had never seen before. And someone who she thought she would never hear from again in her life was calling out her name. She tried to turn her head to look for the source of the caller but found that she couldn't move her head or any of her other body parts for that matter. All she could do was blink her eyes. Then all of a suddenly Justin's face came into view and a smile instantly came her her face. She tired to speak as well but found she could not.
"Juliet!" exclaimed Justin with a smile on his face that quickly turned to confusion."
She saw him look away from her to someone else that she couldn't see standing nearby.
"What's wrong with her doctor?" asked Justin. "She's only looking at me and not responding."
"Oh she has a slight bit of temporary paralysis." said the mysterious voice. "Not to worry though. It will fade soon and she will be able to move around again like she used to."
"Did you hear that Juliet?" Justin asked. "You have a slight bit of temporary paralysis. It won't last too long and then you can get up and walk around a little bit."
A slightly small smile crept onto her face.
"Now let's not get too hasty just yet, Justin." said the mysterious voice as it came into Juliet's view. "Her skeletal system is still riddled with osteoporosis and she'll need a lot of calcium and bed rest in order for her bones to repair until they are strong enough to support her weight."
When she got her first full glimpse of the owner of the mysterious voice her eyes widened in a mixture of amazement, fear, and surprise. Justin noticed and immediately began to explain to her the situation.
"Juliet, there's something we need to tell you." he said. "Wait right here while I get the others." he added before he left the laboratory.
"Well he didn't expect you to just get up off that gurney and run away now did he?" the mysterious man???, human??? whatever he was???? asked to her.
To her relief Justin returned a few short moments later with his sister and brother and Harper in tow. And also with another guy she was acquainted with but had not seen since before she became a minion of the mummy. (A/N: Juliet believes it's still January 2010)
Alex, Harper, and Max greeted Juliet with smiles. The other guy came over and stood next to her bed.
"Hey there vampire." he said with a smile. "Or should I say ex vampire now? Remember me? Jim Alcorn. Time traveler. Alex :::::::: my time machine in August of 2009."
(A/N: a spoiler alert for my prequel story if I should ever write it. So I blurted out the verb of Jim's last sentence.)
"Hey that was not my fault!" Alex exclaimed from behind Jim.
Juliet smiled slightly. Then she looked toward the mysterious man and her eyes widened again. Jim followed her look.
"This is doctor Phlox." he said. "He's a Denobulan from another planet far from Earth. Yes he's an alien so-to-speak."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Juliet." said Phlox with one of his Denobulan smiles that brought another look of surprise to her face.
"He saved your life, Juliet." said Justin coming to stand by her side once more. "He reconstructed your DNA and made you young again. You're no longer and old woman."
More confusion appeared on her face as Justin spoke.
"Here, let me show you." he said before he took out his wand and waived it around to where an upright mirror appeared just less than a meter from her bed.
Juliet looked in the mirror and tears came to her eyes when she saw how young and beautiful she was once again. Justin, Jim, and the others began to explain to her how they had returned to Transylvania, found her in the infirmary, and brought her to the future where Phlox could reconstruct her DNA to make her young again. She cried as they spoke and Justin wiped each and every tear from her face as she shed them.
"Mason's here also." said Justin with slight anger in his voice earning him a slap to the back of his head from his sister.
"Don't start on him again!" Alex warned her brother.
Justin just ignored her and spoke to Phlox.
"So how long do you think Juliet's paralysis will last for doctor?' he asked.
"Oh it could be over in a couple of minutes to a couple of hours." replied Phlox. "But don't worry. She'll be able to speak and move around again before you know it but it will be at least a few days before she can walk again. With plenty of calcium intake and a little rehabilitation, she'll be up on her feet again in no time."
Justin had a smile on his face as he turned to face his girlfriend.
"You hear that Juliet?" he asked. "You'll be up and walking in no time."
Juliet smiled.
"Does Juliet have to remain here in the laboratory while she recovers from her paralysis?" asked Jim.
"No, it's not necessary." replied Phlox. "Now that's she breathing on her own and off life support, I don't see any reason why she has to remain here. Other than the fact that she can't walk for herself just yet."
"I can carry her out of here." said Justin.
"What about her calcium intake, doc?" asked Jim. "How should that be administered?"
"Well her DNA scan test shows that she is not lactose intolerant." replied Phlox. "So ordinary milk should suffice. But only give it to her in sips for right now while she's paralyzed. You don't want to choke her."
"Right." said Justin.
Before Juliet was moved from the laboratory Jim offered to give up his bedroom to her. He called up housekeeping and had the bedroom cleaned and fresh linens replaced on the bed. Phlox offered to give up his bedroom to Jim since he hardly ever used it so Jim accepted the offer and had housekeeping clean that room as well as refresh the linens. Justin carried Juliet to her bedroom, placed her on the bed, and stayed with her for few hours talking to her until she fell asleep around midnight. He remained sitting on the side of her bed for a moment or two watching her sleep until he, too, retired to his and Max's room and fell into a deep sleep of his own.
Author's Notes.
I wasn't expecting this to be a long chapter, but I guess this makes up for the recent short ones. I wanted to post two chapters for Easter but midnight passed and I was too late for that so I just put off finishing this chapter until today. I know I originally intended to have Jim's doctor do the organ replacement in Juliet, but I thought how much more exciting it would be to have Phlox do it instead so Juliet could be part of the story plot while they are in the future. Um....... I checked the second episode of "Wizards vs. Vampires" where Justin and Juliet have their first date at the loft and Juliet says that vampires are health conscious about what they eat and not that she, herself, was lactose intolerant. So milk was the only source of calcium I could think of that she could take to strengthen her skeletal system.
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