Many thanks to my awesome beta!
Here's the next chapter, mostly a continuation of events from the previous chapter. :)
Please, read and enjoy! All comments and opinions are welcome.
"Are your fights with Sulu no longer satisfactory?" Spock asked.
Nia's grin was a tad too smug. "I'm wearing him out." She told Spock proudly. "As long as I keep getting back up, I'm able to eventually force him to yield."
"I was the assistant combat instructor at the academy." Kirk offered. Jacek started glaring at him again.
Nia shrugged. "I'd probably have to spar with Sulu then with you in order to get a work out, though. Seems my endurance has dramatically increased with the harder sparring sessions."
"Vulcans also have higher endurance, and I often find myself lacking a challenging sparring partner. If it is satisfactory, I will spar with you." Spock alternatively offered.
"Now I like that idea." Nia said. "Though I may not be very challenging." Her eyes lit up with an idea. "Will you teach me a Vulcan martial art?"
"I will." Spock answered. As a Paladian, Nia possessed the strength and agility needed to best utilize such a skill.
Wena had a rueful smile on her lips as she watched the interaction. "You've really gotten into this, haven't you?" Wena asked Nia.
"What do you mean?" Nia looked surprised.
"Well, you've gone beyond standard self- defense to wanting to learn a Vulcan martial art. Knowing you, I shouldn't be surprised, but I am."
Both women were aware of the double meaning to Wena's last statement, but Kirk was blissfully ignorant.
"So you started with standard self- defense classes?" The captain asked.
Nodding, Nia told him "I did. I didn't stay there for long, though."
That tweaked his curiosity. "Why?"
"I was pretty angry and very determined, so my instructor signed me up for a more challenging class." Nia told him. She had been very, very angry at the time she signed up for the classes and she really made the other women in the class uncomfortable. Once she started being truly challenged, the anger wore off as Nia ran out of steam.
"The change appears to have been advantageous." Spock said.
"It was," Nia agreed. "And it was more of what I was wanting, anyways."
Her statement seemed odd to Spock. "If you were interested in the more aggressive ways of fighting, why did you start in self-defense classes?" Spock was curious.
"Self-defense was a good place to start and really was the most basic goal of what I was trying to do." She tried to explain it, but knew she wasn't doing justice. "Maybe I should just start from the beginning."
Wena's rueful smile had long turned sorrowful and she looked at the table as Nia gave her response.
"I started fighting a little under two years ago."
Spock tilted his head as he looked at her. "Such an occurrence correlates with your husband's death."
"It doesn't just correlate, it's a direct causation." Nia responded.
Kirk had a feeling he knew where the conversation was going. "How did he die?" He asked softly.
"Well," Nia cleared her throat. "In short, he was eaten."
At any other time, Wena would have laughed at the competing heights the men's eyebrows reached.
"Eaten?" Kirk asked, horrified.
Spock rattled off the name of a planet. Nia gave him a surprised look. "I was not aware the man involved in that incident was your husband."
"What happened?" Kirk was appalled. While dangers were not unheard of for Starfleet personnel, getting eaten was a particularly hard one to bear. He remembered the fear on Delta Vega.
"While investigating plant life and collecting soil samples on a previously uncharted planet, my husband was captured by a tribe of humanoids." She cleared her throat again, stomach turning from the thought of what happened. "It was their custom to eat their enemies."
Silence reigned at the table for a few moments before Spock spoke.
"This is what drove you to learn to fight." Spock concluded.
Nia nodded in confirmation. "It is. I was quite angry and when I learned I would be taking over Henry's work, I decided such a thing would not happen to me. Not if I could help it."
Not entirely understanding her mindset, Kirk said "I'm sure your husband didn't try to get killed."
"Henry wasn't suicidal, no." Wena responded. "But he was a man of science. He'd be intimidating in a battle of wits and little else."
"A typical mindset for humans focused in science." Spock concluded.
"He was a good man." Jacek spoke up again, but this time his statement was directed to the table, his eyes downcast with grief.
Once again, the table fell silent. Kirk was a little worried how this conversation was going to affect his first officer, and so he looked at Spock to see how the Vulcan was handling it.
It was only because he was watching Spock for any reaction that Kirk noticed the fleeting brush of Nia's fingers against Spock's wrist. The gesture was so quick; the moment was over before Kirk had even registered what happened.
Glancing around the table, Kirk didn't think the others saw the interaction. That, or it was a Paladian thing that needn't be brought to attention. Either way, Kirk decided against calling the pair out on the small intimacy. For now, at least.
Shortly after the conversation ended, it was time for the meal to end and for each individual to get back to work.
Nia took the time to bid Spock and the captain a good day, and to give Jacek her best 'behave' look. When the two women left the mess hall, Nia was prepared to head to her lab alone. She was surprised though, when Wena followed her.
"You mind?" the younger woman asked. "I'm just curious as to what you've been up to when not flirting with the commander."
Playfully, Nia swatted at her friend and the two headed for the labs. On the way there, Nia noticed Wena fidgeting some, but didn't think much of it.
"Do you know what Jacek was upset for?" Nia asked.
Wena shook her head. "No, I really don't. All I can think is that the captain must have done something, but I really don't know what."
"Odd." Nia said. "I suppose we will find out eventually."
"More than likely. Think we should warn the captain?" Wena asked playfully.
Nia looked at her, suddenly worried. "Do you think Kirk is in danger?"
Wena chewed her lip. "Nah." She eventually said and looked at Nia.
The two women came into agreement. "Nah." They both repeated.
Nia settled down into a stool situated by the center island of her lab. "So, what do you want to know?"
Lifting her hands in a shrug, Wena said "I don't know, find anything cool lately."
"Nothing you would find cool. Except there was a new species of carnivorous fungus found."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, come here. I have a sample, let me feed it and you can look at it under the microscope."
Wena was confused. "Isn't it too big to look at under a microscope?"
"Wrong type of microscope. I have a light microscope and a dissecting microscope. You'll use the dissecting." She showed Wena the larger contraption with significant amount of space between the objective and the sample plate.
"Oh, ok." Wena said and she looked through the eye piece, adjusting the focus as necessary. "Oh that's creepy. It looks like that noose fungus you showed me on Earth, right?"
"Yeah, I thought you might appreciate the similarities between the two." Nia smiled.
Wena smiled, but this time it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Can you use it? On Palad?"
Nia shook her head regretfully. "No, unfortunately. The composition of Palad's soils is incompatible with the necessary environment for this particular organism." She leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. "Maybe after a little genetic modification we would have something viable, but it would take time to work out all the kinks that come with any kind of GM."
"Time?" Wena asked. "How much time?"
"Enough to make me glad that the problem on Palad isn't more severe." Nia told her.
"More severe? It can't get much more severe, our crops are failing." Wena stared at her friend.
Sensing her friend's upset, Nia said "Yes, but not at a high enough rate to warrant greater concern."
"Well, I suppose when you have a whole team of scientists working on this back on Earth, it doesn't seem to be that big of a problem. You guys must be real close to figuring this thing out." Wena tried to calm herself.
Nia was baffled. "Um actually, this fungus is the closest thing I've got to an answer. And, I don't really have a team. There is another scientist working on this on Earth, but I'm the primary on this end." She tilted her head to the side. "Is the group on Palad not coming through?"
"What group on Palad? There are a couple guys treating it like a side project, but I figured they'd signed the whole turf off to you." Wena had no idea what she was talking about. "And there are only two scientists working on this? How?"
"I was informed that there was a team working on Palad to solve the problem with the crops. And to answer your second and third question," Nia sighed "I guess Starfleet doesn't put a high priority on a problem that will only be a problem in fifty years."
"Fifty years?" Wena choked on the words. "Fi-fifty years? How told you that? How can you think that?"
"That's what all the data I've been receiving indicates and even Henri agreed before he died. I have received no information that would change that." It finally clicked for Nia. "Why? What have you heard?" Her heart was pounding hard.
"Nia, the guys treating it like a side project? They released a report that our planet will have to be evacuated in five years."
Nia couldn't move for several seconds. "What?"
"That's why there's been so many settlers leaving now. It's a volunteer basis, but if we reduce the native population enough, then we might be able to prevent an all-out disaster in the future."
By the time her friend was finished speaking, Nia was barely listening. Her vision turned hazy and bright pink spots flared in front of her eyes. Five years…
When she hit the floor, everything went blissfully black.
Coming to wasn't easy, but it also wasn't a choice when the noxious fumes filled her nose. Wincing Nia lifted a hand to bat away the source and came into contact with a hand instead.
Blearily, Nia opened her eyes to look up into the face of Dr. McCoy. She groaned and shut her eyes.
The man snorted. "Clearly Paladians have no appreciation for handsomeness."
A female in the room chuckled. "Handsome? I think we're just lucky she didn't have a heart attack from fright."
"Indeed, consciousness should not be greeted with the visage of one such as Dr. McCoy."
"Watch it, you green blooded hobgoblin."
Realizing she was not in her own bed, Nia opened her eyes to find she was in the medbay. Lifting a hand, she rubbed her head. "How did I get here?" She asked. Her head felt a little fuzzy and she couldn't quite remember what she had just been doing.
"You fainted." McCoy informed her.
"When?" She asked. Her body clock was off and she couldn't tell how long she was out.
This time it was Wena who answered. "We were in the labs. You've only been out for twenty minutes at the most."
"Do you recall what you were last doing?" Spock was standing at her left shoulder, Wena on the other side of him. McCoy was one her right.
Focusing on his question, Nia slowly shook her head. "Not really. I remember walking to the labs with Wena and then we were talking about… about fungus and using for Palad, and then-" the memory near clicked into place and Nia began to hyperventilate. "Five years." She tried to sit up, but Spock put a firm hand against her shoulder.
"Calm yourself." He told her.
Instead she started trembling. "I was supposed to have fifty years. I wasn't wasting time, but there's a big difference between fifty years and five." She looked wildly between the trio around her bed. "Why wasn't I informed? Why was I not given that information?" Nia could feel her heart pounding in her throat.
"Now don't get yourself all worked up. We'll figure that bit out soon enough." McCoy had a hand on her other shoulder.
Nia tried to make herself relax. Looking over at Wena, she caught a flash of something across her friend's face, something she couldn't decipher with her panic hazed mind. It gone just as quick as Nia saw it and the Paladian pushed it to the back of her mind.
"What else don't I know?" Nia asked her.
"You tell me." Wena responded. "This situation has really gone to the dogs."
Spock looked at Wena with one eyebrow raised. "That statement is illogical. Canines have no involvement in this situation and there are none native to Palad."
Nia let out a hysterical chuckled and put a hand over her face.
Ignoring the Vulcan, Wena said "Nia, the captain already knows about what happened. He said he would help us figure out what was going on." Her gut twisted at the thought. Things just kept getting worse around every corner.
Closing her eyes, Nia forced herself to gain control. It wouldn't do to panic and completely loose her mind. The captain was going to help. That was a greater comfort than being told Starfleet was going to help. Nia had been fed that line before, and look where it got her.
Spock watched as Nia appeared to struggle with her emotions. Then, slowly, her breathing evened out and heart rate slowed until it settled just above the Paladian norm, still lower than even human heart rates. He dropped his hand from her shoulder.
Finally, Nia reopened her eyes and asked McCoy "How long do you need me to stay here?"
"Your vitals are good, but I'd like you to stay under observation a little while longer. You're lucky you didn't hit your head on anything on the way down." The Southern doctor's voice was gruff, but not offensive. Not to Nia at least. He seemed to be annoyed with Wena though and was just bidding his time.
As soon as Nia had that thought, the doctor grabbed the other doctor and Nia watched as her friend was ushered out of the medbay and into McCoy's office.
Spock stayed next to her, silent, and Nia was beginning to chafe under the scrutiny. "I am not made of glass, Spock."
"I was not aware such a thing was possible." He responded.
Nia looked up at him, frowned, and then giggled when he raised an eyebrow at her expression. Slowly, she sat up. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she rested her forehead against Spock's upper arm.
Spock went still, not knowing what she expected of him. If she desired an embrace, she was not in the optimal position for one, nor was he inclined to do so in such a public area.
After a couple moments where neither of them moved, nor had she requested anything from him, Spock relaxed.
Sighing, Nia leaned back. She was uncertain if he was uncomfortable with public displays of affection or if he thought she was. As it went, Nia was the one who usually initiated the contact between them. If there were others around she kept it secret to keep Spock from feeling uncomfortable.
This time though, this time she wanted a little more than finger tips against his wrist. So she'd rested her head against his arm, not expecting or wanting anymore from him and just enjoyed his natural scent mixing with the cleanliness of his shirt.
She smiled up at him. "Sorry for pulling you away from your work. I am not pleased with my reaction to Wena's news."
His response was not one she expected. "One might say you overreacted to such information. Another might say you underreacted. Either is unimportant." She looked up at him in surprise as he continued speaking. "What is important is how you handle the information from here on out. Unconsciousness is not beneficial to aiding your people."
"You're right, Spock. Thank you."
"Thanks are unnecessary and I knew prior to your saying so that my statement was correct."
Her smile grew.
A/N: Oh boy. So things were much, much worse than they seemed.
Thank you to SerenityAngels and skye. maiden13 for reviewing! So glad to hear Niki was liked.
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