So that baby project was such a pain in the butt. And I was supposed to return the doll to school today, but it was a snow day. Well, I hope this chapter is enjoyable. And as far as I know, the aliens are my own invention. If I'm wrong, just let me know, I don't really care either way. Please read and enjoy and review :)
A/N I do not own anything from Star Trek
Stardate 2258.75
Amanda gulped. "Oh." She couldn't really think of anything else to say, and Spock didn't look like he expected her to have a reply anyways. Why would those weird orange aliens be asking for her? Just this morning, she was living a very normal life, even if she did have a Vulcan for a boyfriend. But now everything was way out of whack.
The lift stopped, and Spock stepped out, not even checking to see if Amanda was still following him. She hurried to keep up as they stepped onto the bridge. Like Amanda had expected, it seemed like most of the crew was huddled there. The captain pushed his way through the thick crowd of crew members until he was standing in front of Spock and Amanda.
"Did you ask why those orange things are attacking us and looking for her?" When Spock just glanced down at the girl, Kirk looked down as well. He addressed her. "Do you know what these things are?"
Amanda shook her head. "No. And I don't know why they would want me, either."
Spock nodded. "She seems to be telling the truth."
Kirk narrowed his eyes. He knew Spock better than most people, and the poor guy had just lost his mother a couple months ago. It would make sense for him to vouch for this girl, because he would want to keep his mom safe, even if she was only half his age. But he knew that Vulcans couldn't lie, and decided to trust Spock. "Alright. Then we need to figure out how many of them there are, and where their ship is so we can communicate, or attack if we need to."
Amanda looked around at all the people rushing all over the place. They all looked like they knew exactly what they were doing, while Amanda was useless. She had already decided that she wasn't going to let her fear control her. "Use me as bait."
Kirk frowned. "What?"
"You heard me. If those things want me so badly, then let them get to me on your terms. Set a trap for them or something."
Spock shook his head. "That is a very illogical plan. It does not account for any of the variables of this situation."
Amanda took a deep breath, and crossed her arms over her chest. She had already made up her mind that she wasn't going to be completely useless. Everyone was running around and shouting at each other, and it was very loud. "Can you get your people to be quiet?"
Kirk turned to shout across the room to a young woman sitting at one of the control panels. She pressed a few buttons, and a shrill ring pierced everyone's ears. Everyone shut up, and Amanda didn't like the sound of complete silence either. But it was better than the ear-splitting commotion that had filled the room.
She nodded gratefully. "You can use me as bait. Set up a trap that can be remotely controlled, so you and all your people can stay safe in here. It's a good plan, you wouldn't be risking anything."
Spock frowned slightly. "What about you? These aliens may not wish to harm you, but
they certainly wish to take you away to an unknown location. There are many things that they could do to you, all of them equally bad."
Amanda's eyes widened. "Are you worried about me?" Spock pursed his lips together, and Amanda smiled. "I was worried about you too." Then she shook her head. "We can talk about that stuff later. It's not a risk losing me because I have no value to this ship, and besides… if they only take me, and then leave the rest of you alone, it would be worth it. You didn't choose to let me onto your ship and now all I've brought with me is trouble."
Kirk could see the brief flash of emotion behind Spock's eyes. He knew the Vulcan must
be seeing something in this girl that he had seen in his mother before. And he knew it would be devastating to his first officer to lose his mother again. "I'm afraid we can't do that. According to Starfleet regulations, no bartering with hostile aliens may occur if it involves Federation life. And you're a human from Earth, so you're part of the Federation."
Amanda shook her head. "I'm not part of anything in this time. I don't belong here, so it doesn't matter what I do. For all I know this is just some nightmare that I'm having, and I'll wake up any minute. But even if it's not, you should know that the needs of the many outway the needs of the few. Losing one worthless girl to save an entire ship of valuable people… it's worth the risk."
She turned to look pleadingly at Spock, and saw his stunned expression. It was strange
for him. Even if he had already accepted that this girl was his mother logically, it still seemed surprising to hear her talk like the woman he had known, and her little mannerisms were also the same. He knew that logically, they should go with her plan, even if it was simpler than the mind of a potato. But there was a part of him that had to argue. He couldn't lose her again. Not when this time, there was a chance to stop that from happening.
But he didn't get a chance to explain that to Amanda and Kirk, who were both waiting for him to pick who he was siding with. The screen went on, and one of those ugly orange things had it's face practically pressing against it. His beady black eyes swivelled around until they landed on Amanda. He nodded at her. He spoke in a low grumble. "That is the girl we are looking for. If you just hand her over, then we will leave you alone."
Amanda cleared her throat and ignored the butterflies in her stomach. "What do you want with me?"
The thing looked vaguely surprised for a moment. "The girl can talk?" He took a couple steps back and turned around, and everyone on the bridge could see another orange thing standing there. Neither said anything that the human crew could hear, but they had obviously just communicate. He looked at Amanda again. "We are the Epoch Brokers. You would call us travelling merchants. But we don't trade in goods per se; we trade in something called cruxes." He pointed to Amanda. "This girl is a crux, and a very rare one at that. We want her."
Kirk put his hands on his hips. He wasn't just going to give away Spock's mom, and even if she was some random girl, he wouldn't hand her over to these strangers. "Where are you from? How did you know that this girl is aboard this ship?"
The Epoch Broker sighed. "We are from nowhere in particular. We are fated to wander through time for the rest of eternity. We knew where and when to find her because we have dozens of machines used to track cruxes. Usually it's more difficult though, because the time energies are so faint. But this one is strong, and we want it."
Kirk pretended that he didn't care, but he was kind of curious. "Are all of these… cruxes… people?"
The thing shook its head. "No. In fact, most of them are tiny baubles, no bigger than a marble or a bead. To find one so large and strong… we want it."
The captain shook his head stubbornly. "Sorry, but you can't have her."
The Broker snarled. "If you won't hand her over, then we will storm your ship, slaughter all your people, take the crux, and fire several missiles at your ship. You have one minute."
