Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. Your reviews keep me going. There is also a slight time jump in this chapter to keep things moving.
Chapter 12: If Life Had a Reset Button
Jim normally hated diplomatic babysitting missions. There was nothing worse than the Federation flagship being reduced to a cruise ship for dignitaries, who for some odd reason can't be bothered to fly commercial. Normally this involves dress uniforms and diplomatic dinners. There's also lots of fake smiling and having to keep various diplomats who hate each other from killing each other. He really doesn't want to ever talk about that one time they weren't so lucky.
Also, Spock doesn't like it when an ambassador or his or her aid tries to sleep with Jim (this happens a lot). Jim really hates it when it's the other way around. Really, you would think that people would recognize the intergalactic symbol of 'keep the fuck away from my husband" that both Jim and Spock wear on their ring fingers, even when on duty.
Jim is not even going to address diplomatic visits involving Spock's grandmother, because those were in their own special category of dysfunctional. That really did end up body bag bad. Although, maybe now that they have David, she will back the hell off her 'make me a grandchild now' kick. If anything good can come out of this cluster fuck of a situation, Jim honestly hopes that it is that.
However, Jim is perfectly fine with this particular babysitting mission for a number of reasons. First, they are now officially away from NCX17, currently being referred to by half the crew as the planet of the dead. Honestly, he could not get away from that planet fast enough because every minute they found something else the creepy, and thankfully late, Jonathan Jackson had his team working on.
According to a very high level encrypted teleconference with Admiral Lume, Starfleet didn't know about 70% of the research going on until Jackson's wife allegedly decided to play whistle-blower. Jim is skeptical and feels like he's still being lied to, especially in light of the fact that the 30% of the stuff Starfleet knew about included the 20 century popsicle people.
The fact that the Admiral purposely ordered Enterprise to bring the popsicle people back to Earth, and that she sent a competent team to backup their report, made him willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Even so, other than Chris, Jim really does not completely trust anyone in the Starfleet hierarchy right now. Too many things were secret, including the fact that they were allegedly using Scotty's equations to make a gateway of sorts between London and the research facility.
Reason two is Elder Selek a.k.a., Other Spock, is the head of delegation and stated that the normal accoutrements that Starfleet requires that they put on for diplomatic delegations are not necessary. If the head of delegation doesn't want those things, then nobody else gets those things. Although Spock looks really hot in the dress uniform, Jim hates his.
Okay, there were other reasons Jim is happy that the Vulcan is going to be on board, even though he is really angry at his husband's other self right now. They still have not managed to decrypt the files found in David's teddy bear because it is close to something Spock designed, but not quite. However, the diary entries were quite illuminating and just the fact that Other Spock visited Carol after what happened in London was enough for the Vulcan to incur Jim's wrath. If you add in the fact that Other Spock melded with her at their wedding, the older Vulcan was in trouble.
The things mentioned in Carol's diary should be super top secret classified, but at least they now know what really happened in London. Everything Carol told Christine was a carefully constructed story to cover up the fact that Marcus' new number one tried to kill her because Marcus pissed off the wrong guy. This guy just happens to be the mysterious Jane Jackson's brother, who has fallen off the radar after everything in London went down. There is not even an arrest record or confirmation of his death. In the diary Carol says that she was told he died, but she doesn't believe Jackson. That was when her first seeds of doubt were starting to show. Her diary said, "People like Jane and John don't die that easily. It is obvious that something is going on that Jonathan doesn't want me to know about other than the fact that my father is an extremely evil person."
Jim is glad that Other Spock is there so he can fill in the gaps with things he knows from either this time around or the last time he went through everything. Of course, Other Spock probably won't give them anything useful from the last lifetime, but at least he can confirm that baby David was created the old fashion way (if you don't count the fertility drugs and aphrodisiacs), and was not bio engineered by the late sadist Jonathan Jackson. (Jim is not even going to bother referring to the bastard by his rank anymore because he's dead and never really deserved it in the first place.)
The final reason Jim is happy about diplomatic babysitting for the first time in his entire Starfleet career is that he is Captain again. He loves Nyota, when she's not keeping the fact that Starfleet excavators found his brother's dead body in the old family barn. Nyota is his best friend and she is one of the most competent and brave Starfleet officers he has ever had the privilege of serving with (except when it comes to dealing with personal things). He has no trouble being under her command, because she knows what she's doing. Her being in charge these last few days was probably for the best because he really is not in a mental place to deal with all of this shit. If he ever decides to leave Starfleet, and that was starting to become more and more a possibility, he would be perfectly okay leaving Enterprise in her capable hands, but he's not ready to put up the gold uniform just yet.
He was going stir crazy on his Margarita enforced paternity leave. Now that they were off that planet and the obvious conflict of interest was gone, he can be in charge again. He needs the distraction of the mission, because he can't decide if he is feeling guiltier about his brother's death (that he could not prevent) or the death of his stepson's mother (that he also could not prevent).
Nyota is currently his acting first officer because Spock's 'paternity/you found the mutilated body of your ex-girlfriend' mental health leave was still in effect until the good doctor felt that he was ready. Basically, Nyota was there to keep him from punching Other Spock out for not telling them about David. She didn't have to physically hold him back, but it was a near thing.
"It is good to see you again, old friend," Other Spock said as soon as he materialized on the transporter pad. Jim literally had to bite the inside of his cheek not to say something along the lines of 'oh don't you dare old friend me, you Vulcan bastard. Why the fuck did you not tell me or Spock about Spock Junior?' Considering they were surrounded by several other members of the Vulcan delegation and several ensigns that were in charge of getting the delegation settled, this was probably not the best time to air such dirty laundry.
Most of the crew didn't even know that David was Spock's child. The official story was that Spock and Dr. Marcus were friends at the Academy and Spock felt it was his place to take care of her son personally, especially because the child was of Vulcan ancestry. It's in Jim's best interest to keep his mouth shut until they get Other Spock away from the rest of the delegation.
"You as well." Jim finally settles on saying that after a few seconds too long. "Simmons and Fitz, please show the rest of the delegation to their quarters. I'm sure that they would want to rest up after several strenuous rounds of negotiations. The commander and I will see to the ambassador, personally." At his words, the two ensigns quickly ushered the Vulcan delegation out of the room.
"That is not necessary. I am sure you need to see to the other delegations. I will just go along with the others," Other Spock told him as he attempted to follow the delegation, but Jim stopped him.
"We just have you and the Earth delegation and they are already safely tucked away in their rooms. Besides, you're not staying in the guest area." Normally, they had several guest suites readily available for guests of Other Spock's stature, but Jim is a little annoyed at him, and he's pretty sure Other Spock would probably like being in one of the 'officer rooms' better anyway. Besides, he would feel better with the ambassador just across the hallway. Jim started walking and the others followed behind him as they navigated their way to Jim and Spock's quarters.
"I am sure you have other duties you must attend to. We can catch up, as you say, later tonight." Jim wasn't entirely sure why Other Spock was trying so hard to get away from him.
The David stuff wasn't public knowledge and Amanda agreed not to tell anyone, including Other Spock, about it. Jim was still trying to repress that particular angry call from his mother in law. They were both in so much trouble for not telling her that she was a grandma. His only consolation was that the elder would be getting the same treatment from Amanda when he arrived on earth. Even though Other Spock was at least three times Amanda's age, nobody wants to get chewed out by their mother. Amanda was pissed.
"My acting first officer and I are all yours right now. Besides, the ship is in the capable hands of Mister Sulu." As soon as he said the word 'acting first officer', Other Spock's eyebrows went through the roof.
"Is my nephew okay?" Other Spock asked using the cover story created by Gaila's hacking skills.
"Spock is fine," Jim reassured quickly.
"Physically, anyway," Nyota added under breath. The Vulcan heard her and his eyebrows were even higher now, if such a thing were possible.
"Your use of the term 'fine' has me worried," the ambassador told the two.
"I don't know why, I'm not as averse to the word as you and my Spock are," Jim told the ambassador flippantly.
"The last mission was difficult for everyone," Nyota interjected "A Starfleet research facility was brutally attacked by unknown assailants using ancient guns. They murdered practically everyone there except for one person who played dead. Two of the scientists killed were friends of Spock and he discovered their bodies. Our ship psychologist felt Spock needed a few days to process his emotions." Okay, considering the look that Other Spock was giving her, he obviously did not buy that excuse, but it was mostly true (by the Vulcan definition of truth, anyway).
"Okay, that's not exactly what actually happened. There's more to it than that, but we can't tell you right now," Jim told him cryptically.
"I understand," this Spock tells him, and it's obvious he does understand because he remembers what it was like to serve on a ship. "If you need me to assist your Spock with processing his emotions, I would be willing to be of assistance."
"That may be necessary later on," Jim told him, not bringing up the fact that David was the one who really needed a mind healer. Oh hell, baby David is going to need human and Vulcan psychological help for probably the rest of his childhood, and his mother getting murdered is probably the least of the reasons why. He hopes the child never finds out how Jonathan Jackson manipulated him into existence.
"He will probably take you up on that offer, but you'll have to talk to him. Your room will be just across the hall from ours. You can see him whenever you like." That caused the older Vulcan to give Jim the Spock version of a smile.
"However, there is something that you can help us with now. There were some things that we came across on the last mission that we know you have encountered before, and we need to speak to you about that," Nyota brings up, getting to the heart of the matter.
"As you are aware, I made a vow never to provide you with any information that would alter your destiny. You must walk your own path." Inwardly Jim is rolling his eyes and he's halfway ready to call bull shit. Other Spock is a natural born meddler, but he is in deep denial about it. It's kind of like he sees this as his second chance to fix everything he screwed up the first time around, but he doesn't want to acknowledge that's what he's really doing. Jim would mention something about all the little tidbits that Other Spock gave Chris about how Starfleet became family friendly in the other timeline, but he was trying not to be unbelievably confrontational. Also, Nyota would probably kick him in the shin if he tried right now.
"It's not like I'm asking you for lottery numbers or some super secret equation that will completely revolutionize the world. Although I'm sure your vow covers the popsicle people that are currently in one of the cargo bays." That comment got Jim another raised eyebrow. "Besides, I'm not sure your vow covers anything Carol Marcus related."
"I made a vow to her," he said, closing both eyes.
"Yes, but she's dead now, so I'd don't know if it still counts." That revelation resulted in Spock walking into a wall. Nyota quickly ran over to help Other Spock.
"I assume it was her body that my nephew discovered?" Spock asked once he recovered, and Jim nodded his head.
"The other person was her long-term girlfriend Rebecca," Nyota added.
"The person that we found alive was Carol's 2½-year-old son, David." That particular revelation caused Other Spock to trip again. "Your nephew was also surprised when he found out that he had a child with his ex-girlfriend, but I bet you're just a little less surprised about his existence than my Spock was," Jim said, unable to keep bits of sarcasm from seeping into his words.
"Admiral Jackson informed me that the fetus Carol was carrying did not survive her encounter with Khan. I felt it was best to not burden Spock with such news," Other Spock said as an excuse for not telling them about David. Because he could read Spock so well, he knew this Spock was telling him the truth. Jackson really was a bastard.
"Jackson was a habitual liar. Wait, who is Khan? The guy who tried to kill Carol was named John Harrison," Jim asked, just as an exuberant two-year-old ran to him in the hallway. David was currently covered in lots of paint and being chased by Doctor Margarita and Spock. Jim quickly grabbed his kid just as Other Spock collapsed to the ground.
It's been two days since Jonathan Jackson was murdered while leaving his Starfleet apartment. Honestly, Chris is surprised nobody decided to throw a 'thank god the bastard is dead' party. Although that may only be because most people really do like his wife Jane, or whatever the hell her name really is, and she was pretty much confined to Starfleet facilities for her own safety right now.
He's not sure if he should call her Jane or Jaya right now. She's more of a mystery now than she was before Chris was informed that Jane Jackson was a cover story created by Andrew Marcus for reasons only the bastard knew. What he knows is that she mysteriously popped into existence a few months after Vulcan was destroyed. She shares her real last name with a guy who massacred portions of the countries once known as India and Pakistan as he ruled the region with an iron fist. This incident also took place in the same era that the frozen bodies Jim discovered came from. He is starting to wonder if Jaya was once one of those frozen bodies. That would explain how she just suddenly showed up in the 23rd century and makes more 20th-century references then Jim in one of his good moods.
Admiral Lume refused to answer any more of his questions until he agreed to take over oversight of all Section 31 projects. He should be flattered that unlike the late Admiral Jackson, she trusted him to oversee everything, including whatever is hiding behind Jupiter that she doesn't want to talk about. Yet, he's still uncertain if he wants to be involved any more than he already was. If this was as bad as the Admiral was inferring, he wasn't sure he could abstain. He wasn't sure if he would trust anyone else with this type of responsibility. Right now he's not exactly sure how much of Starfleet he can trust.
Chris couldn't talk to Amanda about this. It was just too classified and she was better off not knowing. Besides, she was distracted with irregularities discovered in the colony budget when she and her fellow councilmember T'Panda were looking for a way to keep Amanda on the Council. He would not be shocked if those accounting irregularities are the main reason why Councilmember Sank was trying to take over her seat. Then again, maybe this whole mess with Starfleet and Section 31 was making him unbelievably paranoid.
He was also avoiding Amanda for more personal reasons. He wasn't ready to talk to her about what he figured out last weekend. Okay, it was more like he wasn't ready for her to laugh in his face. She was beautiful and vibrant. What would she want with a jaded Starfleet Admiral who was going to be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his existence?
Since he cannot talk to Amanda about this and his Admiral was keeping her mouth shut, that only left Jane or whatever her name is now. It was surprisingly easy to find her. She was in one of the research labs on the Starfleet campus. He could tell which one, because there were currently two security officers stationed outside the door.
"I see that you found me," the woman said, looking up from her research.
"You know that you would be less conspicuous without the two security guards outside, Ja…" he started, but wasn't sure which name he should use. "What name do you want me to call you?" he asked.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but you are used to calling me Jane, so go with that," she replied.
"Okay," he told her with a shrug.
"I'm not the one who asked for the security guards. That would be at my cousin and, well, his wife listens to him in things like this," she said with a hint of annoyance.
"Is he actually your cousin?" he asked skeptically. He doesn't believe anything of the created history that was made for her.
"Several generations removed, but we are related distantly. His side of the family changed the surname several generations ago," she told him cryptically, but his research told him why he stopped using that last name.
"I can understand. Not that many people want to be associated with one of the most deadly and violent dictators of the 20 century, even if he happened to be just a distant relative." As Chris said the words, he saw her twitch. Obviously, he was closer to the truth then he initially thought.
"History is subjective, and many of the relevant facts are lost over time. They say, one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter."
"I don't think mass murder can be misinterpreted," he remarked darkly.
"What so-called normal individuals did in Rwanda was 20 times worse than anything Ka —" she started, before she cut herself off. He was pretty sure she knew exactly how bad the Rwanda genocide was because she was there. "How much do you know?"
"At the very least I'm starting to wonder if your sudden appearance three years ago has anything to do with the frozen bodies Enterprise discovered in the basement," he told her darkly.
"They're still there? He didn't take them?" she asked, with concern in her voice.
"All 71 are currently on board Enterprise, making their way towards Earth." At his words, she exhaled in relief.
"That's good. At least he didn't get what he wanted. I knew having Carol change the password for downstairs was a good thing." That last part was whispered.
"What are you talking about? Who is this 'he' that you keep referring to? Do you know who attacked NCX17?" he asked in rapid succession.
"I have my theories, but I'm not entirely sure who did this. But I know why and all those that died are just more blood on my hands," she said, going back to her experiment.
"They wanted you?" he asked.
"Maybe. If the person I think is responsible for these attacks is actually doing this, I'm sure he would want me to build him more weapons of mass destruction for the private weapons company that he now works for. But I won't do it. You can't bring peace about with bombs and brutality. I know better now," she said wearily, giving him more evidence that she came from a time when war was normal.
"Marcus?" he asked, because it just seemed like she was talking about him.
"Well, according to Admiral Lume, it was one of his long-term friends that betrayed everyone and allowed the attackers on the planet. Jonathan wouldn't let me or Carol fire him, stupid ass." He's kind of shocked that she is currently cursing out her deceased husband.
"Two days ago you said that you loved him, and now you're cursing the man you were married to for 2 ½ years. What changed?" he asked curiously.
"Two days ago I don't even think I knew my husband," she said with a hint of sorrow in her voice. "You'd be amazed what you find out from a dead man's files. The only good thing to come out of everything he did is a 2 ½-year-old that loves to finger paint and color." She seemed on the verge of tears at that point.
"I'm sorry," he said, because he didn't know what else to say.
"Don't apologize. Have you ever wished your life had a reset button? There are so many things I would have done differently if I had known what was really going on. But I guess ignorance really is no excuse, because maybe I wanted to be ignorant," she said, and Chris wondered if she was talking about something other than her husband's treachery.
"Most people were too polite to talk badly about the bastard that I was married to in front of me, even Carol. When she showed me the project information for 'build a better Vulcan baby,' she purposely redacted all information about David. I found all of that out yesterday when searching my husband's computer files." There was a surprising amount of bitterness in her words.
"I thought waking up in 2258 was my reset button. Nobody knew what I did before and I could just start over here. I could just be an anonymous wife and mother here. Marcus gave me a new name, a new life, and even a new face. I convinced myself that I could make up for all the bad things that I just let happen by continuing my research to make this world better." Her words were more of a confession then she intended. She confirmed that she was once among the frozen bodies that Jim discovered.
"What were you researching?" he asked, because Chris knew that if he questioned her more about waking up, she would stop answering his questions, and he needed to keep her talking.
"I wanted to find a cure for leukemia, save premature babies, or maybe even find a way to make you walk again. Not create bombs or weapons of mass destruction. Not create super Vulcans either. The Eugenic wars should've taught all of us that sometimes being too perfect is a bad thing." She shivered as she said this, as if she was talking about a real memory and not something that she learned about merely from the history books like everyone else of his generation. It dawned on him that was because these were her real memories. She did live through this time and probably had a better understanding of it than most.
"I like this world where people actually respect one another and war is some abstract concept. I like that people don't hate you just because you come from a different country or planet. I don't want to do anything to destroy this. Contrary to what Andrew Marcus believes, attacking the Klingons or any other enemy will destroy everything, not preserve it."
"I don't think we live in that perfect world anymore, not after Vulcan was destroyed," he told her sadly.
"It's still better than when I come from, as long as we don't throw it all away. I've seen what fear can do. My parents were stupid idealists. For the sake of fear they created what they thought was the perfect human, the perfect leader. The results were complicated."
"Are you saying your parents were responsible for creating the super soldiers of the 20th century? How old are you?" he finally asked bluntly.
"Yes. And before you ask, I wasn't created in a test tube, however my donor was. There were some unintended consequences of my bone marrow transplant. I'm almost 300 years old and I barely look 30. I'm also 3 to 4 times stronger than you are. If you shoot me with a phaser set to kill, I probably would wake up in about five minutes." Her confessions were unnerving, but he wasn't surprised.
"You're immortal?" he asked.
"We all die eventually, it just takes longer for some of us than others and, well, I had some additional help. There are also antibodies in Augment blood that allow the body to repair itself. They can even make a heart start again under the right conditions," Jane told him.
"David?" Chris prompted.
"Yes, along with about half of the other people on NCX17. Most of my team were composed of volunteers who were sick or dying. Despite all the medical advancements made while I was sleeping, this was still their only chance."
"You made them like you?" he asked.
"I saved their lives, for a little while anyway, until they were all murdered when I was trying to…" She stopped, unable to continue. "Do you wonder why they showed up at the lab and my house with guns?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. Or at least it seemed that way at first.
"Yes, actually."
"How do you kill somebody with antibodies in their body that can help repair most damage, if given enough time?" He pondered her question for a few seconds, but he couldn't come up with the answer.
"I don't know."
"I'm sure you've taken some field first aid training, and the first thing they teach you is to stop the bleeding." It takes him a few seconds, but he finally understands what she's trying to tell him.
"Blood loss." As soon as he says the words out loud, he wonders why he didn't see the connection earlier. "The antibodies cannot repair the damage done to the body if you're bleeding out."
"Exactly, and until we can perfect the treatment, we are keeping things quiet. There are still too many side effects right now. Not that many people knew what I was working on. It would be too dangerous. That's why I think Andrew Marcus had something to do with the attacks. He knew about my research. He knew I was different than my brother. Those people came prepared," she said gravely.
"You may be right," Chris said darkly. He knew that Andrew Marcus was a very bad person, but he didn't want to believe that the man may have had something to do with the death of his daughter.
"You have to take over Section 31. This stuff cannot get out. It's too dangerous." He agreed with Jane. It was all too dangerous.
"Why do you trust me?"
"Rebecca trusted you. She put you on her list of people to take care of David in case…" She didn't say another word Instead she went back to her experiment.
"Okay, I'll do it," he told her, mostly because he needed as much information as possible to keep Jim's son and Amanda's grandson safe. The only way he was going to know the truth about Section 31, was to become part of it.
To be continued
