"Okay. And you think I'm the right person?"
"From all the people I could think of, I found that you have some of the best qualifications. Did you know Professor Bennett even wrote quite a long reference?"
"I knew he wrote one… but not that it was long"
"Besides, you already know two of our new friends"
"I do?"
"Yup. The two Vulcan ambassadors. Father and son… and the father's gonna meet his son again"
"Oh" she said and smiled and glanced over at her boyfriend
"Hey, what's this?" before she knew it Jim was touching the hickey and when she stared at him in surprise, he grinned "No really?" he nudged Spock's side "Congrats there"
"Excuse me?" Spock asked
"Don't" Carissa hissed in the Captain's direction
"Why not?"
"Because…" she glared at him "You'll get a similar spot as well. Just that yours will be a black eye"
"Hey, I'm a superior officer"
"Then behave like one" he rammed her with his hip, making her stumble into Uhura.
"Very mature" she muttered.
"Oi, she started it" Spock intervened and reminded them that the ambassadors could arrive any minute. "You're right. Nice to know your love life doesn't cloud your mind too much" Carissa only rolled her eyes and rubbed over the hickey absentmindedly. One of the engineers told them that the shuttle door was opened and that the shuttlecraft was landing. Carissa quickly tried to smoothen some wrinkles in her shirt and tried to keep a neutral mien but there was a smile on her face. The door opened and she saw nine people. As far as she could judge, three of them looked like they were human. She recognized two Andorians and supposed that the last two besides the Vulcans were Ferengi. The Captain introduced his crewmembers and then the ambassadors did the same. Sarek looked like he hadn't even seen his son whereas the elder version of Spock gave a slight nod in his direction. The Ferengi politely shook everyone's hand except for Spock's and the Andorians greeted each of them verbally. Then the humans shook hands with them and Carissa saw how one of the ambassadors was starting to flirt with Uhura.
"Ah, it's just a pleasure to be among other humans again… especially so beautiful ones" with that he glanced at Carissa and winked at her. She started to think that this probably was the troublesome human Jim had mentioned earlier. The Captain offered them to give them a short tour through the ship but Sarek declined, saying he had seen it before and wanted to retire.
"Alright, Commander, please show him his quarters. Unless you prefer someone else accompanies you"
"No. There is something I wish to discuss with my son" Carissa saw that his eyes darted to her for the fraction of a second and was quite sure that it somehow involved her. She gulped and looked away quickly. The others agreed to the tour and one of the humans offered Uhura his arm. She looked as if she was about to slap him and told him she could walk on her own.
- oO0Oo -
Carissa liked the tour and she made sure to be close to the Vulcan ambassador because she wanted to see his reactions, after all he knew another version of the Enterprise. In the end, Jim invited all the ambassadors, even Sarek, to lunch, to what they agreed.
"You two can come too. You don't need to put on your uniforms if you don't want" he told Uhura and Carissa. "And I'll ask Spock to come too but he'll probably tell me that it would be more logical to take over command in the meantime." he glanced at the ambassador "No offence" of course the Captain was right with this assumption and so Spock was back on the bridge while the others gathered in one of the smaller rec rooms that had been closed for the next few hours. Carissa had to admit that she liked it a lot, especially the diversity of meals. As it seemed, Jim wanted to give each guest something from his own culture, but it didn't surprise her that almost no one ate only food that was from their home. Once the meal was over, they split up a little to talk to each other. One of the humans excused himself and then returned shortly after
"Okay everyone" he shouted as the human who had accompanied the ambassadors stepped closer "Hands at the back of your head" he pulled out a phaser and tossed one to his friend. Carissa stared at them in shock but then did as requested and saw that everyone else did it too but reluctantly
"What the hell do you want?" Jim growled
"Just the ship. And you'll help us"
"The hell I'll do" one of them sighed
"Let's see if your Vulcan officer is a little more cooperative. Contact the bridge" Kirk didn't want to so the ambassador pointed his weapon at one of the Andorians "Do it or you can explain the Andorians why their ambassador is dead…"
"Humans" the Andorian in question muttered and seemed pretty mad, whereas the other Andorian managed to persuade the humans to let him join them. Much to her surprise, they allowed it but didn't give him a weapon, of course. Luckily, the Captain listened and did as their captors wanted
"Spock here"
"Hey there, how is it going on the bridge?"
"If this is an attempt to try and make me come to the meal I can assure you that you will not succeed"
"No. I just don't want you here anyway. Keep your ass right on the bridge" for that, the second human, the one who wasn't an ambassador, hit his phaser at his head, making him groan
"Captain?"
"Alright, listen here, pointy" the other man said "We've got your friends captive… and if you don't to as we say we'll kill them one by one. Though I don't know who we're supposed to start with. Your old man or your older counterpart… what do you think will happen if we kill him? Will you just puff away?" the Andorian who had just joined their captors whispered something in his ear "Are you sure?" he nodded "Ah no even better" he sneered "I know who I'll kill first. Your sweet little girlfriend"
"If you touch anyone in this room, I wi-…" Jim threatened but was stopped by a kick to his stomach "will kill you" he finished with a gasp. Meanwhile, the Andorian who had betrayed them grabbed Carissa by the hair and dragged her over to the others
"Why don't you tell him we're serious?" she was asked and slammed against the wall. She grunted in pain
"It wouldn't change anything" she said "If you want to take over the ship, you'll have to kill everyone. And then you can't even do anything… so you'd best give up"
"Believe me, we will find people who value their lives more than being loyal" the human said "And what about you, pointy? How important is she to you?"
"I need time to consider"
"You have one hour. And then her death goes on your account. Same applies if you try anything like freeing them or deceiving us" the ambassador pushed her away and ended the call. "All of you, go into that corner and no funny business or I'll kill one of you early" the two Vulcans listened immediately but the Ferengi seemed like they were about to protest, then did the same. The Andorian and the human ambassador stared at the traitors and then did as they were told. Jim wrapped an arm around Carissa and led her to the others and Uhura followed them.
"What do you think he'll do?" Carissa muttered
"No idea. But he's definitely not sitting in the chair and contemplating if he's supposed to do as they say to save you"
"He'll probably set up a security team" Uhura whispered.
"There's gotta be something we can do" Carissa mumbled "to distract them somehow" she turned to the ambassadors "Anyone got an idea?"
"We could try and take them out" the human suggested
"Typically human" the Andorian said
"Hey at least I've said something" the other one hissed back.
"No, we have to work together. As a team" Carissa said "We could pretend something happened so they will come and have a look…" she let out a huff "Or we just attract attention"
"Hey, quiet there" the Andorian shouted and threw a chess piece in her direction
"They would need to come quite close before we would be able to overpower them" Spock remarked
"How do we achieve that?" the Ferengi asked. Carissa started chewing on her fingernail
"They'll want to kill me first, so maybe I could…"
"Out of question" both Jim and Spock said almost at the same time
"I'm not risking anyone's life" Jim said
"What if it saves the others?"
"If you even dare to say something like 'I can be most easily replaced' I'll knock you unconscious that you can't do anything stupid" Uhura growled
"That's it" Carissa said "We start fighting. They have to stop us and even if they stun us, they're distracted so that some of us could knock them down"
"This might work" Spock agreed and looked into the round. A few others mumbled in agreement
"Silence!" now one of their human captors shouted.
"Okay, let's to this" Jim then said. Carissa nodded
"Just in advance… I don't mean anything I'll be saying and I apologize in advance" she took a deep breath "So of what use is that Vulcan brain if neither of you can come up with a plan to get us out of here?" she then said, a little louder
"Yes, exactly" Jim added "You're useless. And I'm sure Spock, the other one on the bridge will just let me die because he wants the command"
"I can assure you that this is at odds with the truth" Ambassador Spock said
"And how would you know? Haven't you been made Captain?" Carissa retorted
"Please, an argument is not what we need right now" Sarek said and she wasn't sure if he was playing along or just was honest.
"Oh yeah? What we need is a plan" the human ambassador barked
"I swear if you don't shut up right now…"
"You'll what?" Carissa said "Kill us all? Then you've lost your hostages. Besides if you remember, you already threatened to kill me. And I know Spock, he won't give in, so I'll die anyway. Give me one reason why I should shut up" she hissed and glared at them. Much to her surprise they only snarled again that she should be quiet or she'd regret it but then they turned away "Looks like this needs to get out of hand…" she muttered "Someone has to get physical"
"Look, I'm sure we can achieve something together if we work all together" the Andorian told their captors.
"You're a traitor!" the Ferengi shouted "Just like your friend"
"Take that back, you bighead" Carissa felt a smile on her lips
"Yeah, you're gonna betray us, I know it" Jim said
"But there are two humans who are traitors. And there's more of you, so the chance that one of you changes sides is…"
"Oi. Shut it. Right now!"
"Tell the blue bug. He's betraying us all!" Carissa said
"You are a whore!"
"Go fuck yourself" Carissa shot back and couldn't deny that she liked this a lot. She once had to stage a fight scene at the Academy.
"Okay if you don't keep your mouth shut I am going to fuck you!" one of the human captors shouted.
"If you as much as touch me you'll either die or spend the rest of your life in the darkest cell… depending on Spock's mood" she muttered
"Yes" the Andorian captive said "Take her. I've got nothing to do with this. And you'll gain nothing if you kill me. Let us go, keep the Vulcans and the humans"
"Take that back" the human ambassador growled and finally violence ensued. He hit his fist against the Andorian's jaw, who again lunged at the other ambassador
"Nice" Carissa muttered to herself and saw how one of the Ferengi leapt at the Captain and they went to the ground. Now their captors jumped up and got their guns ready but before they were able to stun anyone, Spock stood up a bit quickly and 'accidentally' knocked over the table so that it was between the fighters and the captors. Now they had no choice but to come closer, probably because they feared one of them could actually die before they were of use.
"Stop this at once! You, pointy, stop them!" Ambassador Spock only raised an eyebrow
"I do not see a reason why I should intervene in a fight that I am not involved in and I am certain that words will be of no use at that time" Carissa heard the amusement in his voice and had to bite back a grin.
"Oh really?" before she knew it, the Andorian had grabbed her and slammed her against the knocked over table, then pulled her back up and shoved her against one of the humans who instantly held a phaser against her head
"Now listen here… are you just as cold as your younger version or will you actually do as we say to save her life?" to her surprise, he nerve pinched the Ferengi
"Oi, he was mine" Jim exclaimed and looked like he'd lunge at the Vulcan next but when he saw Carissa he stopped and shook the Andorian's shoulder who was still fighting the human ambassador on the floor. Somehow Carissa was only disappointed that her plan didn't work but once the human pushed her away she started to feel the pain that only increased when she stumbled and fell. He yanked her back up and her eye started burning. When she touched it with her hand she felt the blood that was dripping from her forehead and carefully tried to find the source but the one holding her slammed her against a table after kicking her in the stomach "Leave her alone!" the Captain protested. Luckily the man listened and let go of her, whereupon she just slumped to the ground, dizzy from the pain
"Let that be a lesson to all of you. The next one to try something will suffer from worse consequences than her" to her dismay, he pulled her up by the hair and pushed her back against the others and she was sure she would have fallen again if Uhura had not stepped forward to catch her.
"You okay?" she asked
"More or less" she muttered, now trying to feel where the blood came from. Meanwhile one of their captors contacted the bridge again
"The hour you have given me is not over yet"
"Oh I know. But I wanted to say you'd better hurry or they start killing each other"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Doesn't need to be of any interest to you. Just know that we're shortening your time to half an hour" and then the communication was ended again.
"And what are you gonna do if he refuses? Once you've killed us all you've even ruined your chances to get off the ship"
"Oh we'll make sure to have a little insurance for that. Now set that table back up, sit down and don't make a sound" Jim set the table back up and sat down on his chair again.
"Sorry" he muttered to Carissa before one of the humans stepped closer, sat down on her chair and pulled her into his lap, and held the phaser to her neck
"I suppose I don't need to tell you what funny business means for her?"
"Hey she's already hurt. Why don't you threaten me?" instead of answering, her captor only hit her in the mouth, making her whine. She felt tears in her eyes and wished she was somewhere else.
"Now, now, don't cry" he said, wiping a tear that escaped her eye away "I'll make it quick if your boyfriend doesn't cooperate" this almost made her freak out. She considered if she just should try and break free. If this had only been about her she'd probably have done it, but there was someone else who had a phaser and he could kill someone before she achieved something. To her surprise, the rest of the thirty minutes their captors had given Spock passed quickly and they called him again. Before she could even consider what it meant for her she heard that her boyfriend agreed.
"Oh looks like someone's found out what his girlfriend means to him…" they explained that one of them would come to the bridge with Carissa and the others would stay to watch the other hostages "So if we find out that you're planning anything, even the slightest thing, they'll pay. Do you understand?"
"I do"
"I mean it… she or the others die if I even as much suspect anything"
"I am able to comprehend your words"
"Wow, still so cold, Spock" they ended the call and the one who had her in his lap got up with her and started pulling her towards the door. When she saw that the other one wasn't paying too much attention to the other hostages, she made up her mind and pulled her blade from her trousers and managed to break free from the one holding her, knocking the phaser out of his hand and lunged at the other before he could do something.
"Good one" Jim shouted and came to help her, lunging at the one man that held her and also the others wanted to help. Unfortunately, the Andorian managed to get the phaser and Carissa only saw that he pointed it at her. But he couldn't shoot before she was pushed aside and something hard and heavy landed on top of her. Only when it moved did she realize who it was. Ambassador Spock. He apologized and let go of her but she only shook her head and clung to his robes, not wanting to be left alone right now. When it got quiet she dared to look up again. Their captors were lying or sitting on the floor and the two Ferengi pointed phasers at the two that weren't unconscious. She heard how Uhura contacted to bridge again and that her boyfriend promised to come as quickly as he could. In the meantime Jim assured himself that no one was severely injured and then wanted to help Carissa up but she refused. "Make sure Bones moves his ass over here" he told Uhura who instantly contacted the Med Bay. Spock arrived before the doctor and as soon as she saw him, Carissa let go of his older counterpart and struggled to get to her feet to get to him instead. A part of her was beyond mad that he only threw a short glance at her before he turned to the Captain to discuss the next steps. Once she reached them, she flung herself around the Vulcan's neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck, letting out a whine to show him she didn't like the fact he basically ignored her. When he did nothing to acknowledge her, she tried to wrap his arm around her but he instantly pulled it back. Luckily, Jim got her hint and stopped talking "We can discuss this all later. The security team's coming to take them" he gestured towards the criminals "away. Right now we don't need much more"
"Okay, someone's gotta tell me what the fuck happened here!" Leonard said even before he entered the room.
"Bad guys" Jim said pointing at their captors "Good guys" he said, making a circulating hand movement.
"There are times where I wonder if you're actually a Captain or just a toddler" much to her dismay, Spock almost pushed her into the doctor's arms, with a comment that her behavior was not appropriate for the situation since he was a superior officer. This made her gasp and reach out for him. "You're an asshole" Leonard muttered in the Commander's direction "A cold-hearted wanker, you know that?"
"She requires medical attention so it was a logical decision to bring her into your care"
"Of course it was" Jim spat and turned to Sarek "You really should put that son of yours over your knee"
"Yeah that's not the way to treat women. Especially your girlfriend" the spoken-to only raised an eyebrow and said that his son was on duty and therefore was right to react like that. "I should have known… The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"
"The fall of any fruit always depends on…"
"Don't you even dare to finish that sentence!" Leonard cut her boyfriend off, then sighed "Does anyone else need medical assistance right now? Otherwise I'd bring her to Med Bay" since everyone else was fine, they declined the offer and the doctor led her to the infirmary and made her sit down on a bio bed
"Why didn't you check me up there?" she asked when he did so
"Would have been logical" he replied "But I supposed you needed a break from logic" she only gave a shrug.
"He-he acted like he didn't even care and like I was some kind of…burden. As if all of this was my fault"
"Hey, you're my patient and you need silence. So don't think about him now. That's an order" Leonard finished the examination and treated her "There's not too much I can do. It's a concussion and all I can do is to keep you here until the morning. She nodded and lied down after he told her to. He left but came back shortly after with a cup
"What's this?"
"Tea" he said "Suppose you can need something"
"Thank you" she whispered and pulled the covers to her chin and tucked her knees up so that she was in a fetal position.
"You're welcome. If you need something, you let me know" she gave a slight nod and closed her eyes. But she couldn't do so for long because the Captain came to Med Bay to hear how she was doing. He also congratulated her for the plan she had, telling her not everyone would get a bunch of ambassadors to shout at each other and finally actually fighting. Suddenly the intercom of the Med Bay beeped and Leonard grunted when he saw it.
"No" he said after answering "You can't ask how she's doing. You've lost the right to know anything about her condition when you proved to be the universe shittiest boyfriend. Order me if you want, I refuse to answer. Ever head of medical secrecy? If you cared about her in any way you'd actually be here. Or wouldn't have left her side at all"
"Doctor I was going to ask you how Carissa is faring, yes. However, I merely wanted to know if she is in a state to receive visitors because I was considering to end my shift early today and ensure her wellbeing myself" the corner of her mouth twitched up and she hoped that Leonard wouldn't shoo him away.
"Hm well… I'd say she is in a state to get visitors physically seen. But don't ask me if she's even willing to see you after the stunt you pulled in the rec room"
"No" she said "I want to see him"
"Good, alright. For reasons unknown to me, she forgives you. Do what you want. But I'm warning you. If you ever treat her like that again, I'll teach my nurses a tad more about Vulcan anatomy in a dissection"
"I can assure you that it never was my intention to hurt her through my actions or words"
"Just shut up I don't even want to hear it. Apologize to her if you are decent but I don't know if she'll ever forgive you"
"Am I right to assume you are angered by my behavior?"
"Damn right I am. See you" he ended the call and turned to Carissa "Just tell me if you want him gone. I'll kick him out immediately"
"No I… actually am glad he's coming" slowly she sat up again and took the cup with tea into her hands and took tiny sips of the hot liquid. When Spock arrived her face lit up and she placed the cup back on the bedside table. He threw a glance at Leonard before he came over to her and sat down on the edge of the bed after she patted the spot. "I'm fine" she said even before he had a chance to ask how she was doing
"Do the injuries hurt?"
"Just this one" she pointed at the gash on her head "Got a concussion"
"I wish to apologize" he said after he gave a nod
"For what?" she asked
"My behavior. The way I have treated you was absolutely not appropriate and I can understand if it has upset you. However, I assure you that I truly am sorry" she squinted her eyes
"If you say you're sorry… do you really mean you feel… guilty?"
"I do. I have never wanted you to feel like this. Especially because of my actions or words"
"What happened… I mean the whole issue with the ambassadors was not your fault" she said "It's my own fault. I was the one who had the idea to stage a fight and then attacked the one that tried to go to bridge"
"The Captain has already informed me about this. I am relieved to know that nothing more serious has happened to you" he carefully reached out his hand to touch the side of her face, just next to her injury.
"But why did you react the way you did? I-I daresay I know you well enough to say that something was wrong with you. No offence"
"I suppose assuming that something is wrong is not quite correct. My actions were influenced by the conversation I have had with my father at the time you have made the tour through the ship"
"What did he say?" he was quiet for a while and she already thought he was about to say he didn't want to talk about it when he let his hand wander down to her neck, to where the hickey was.
"To sum it up, he has told me that he does not truly approve of relationship between us"
"But once you told me that he said he's okay with us being together"
"This is not what I meant…. He merely believes that it would be better if I either made it official or chose someone else"
"In other words, he wants us to marry or separate"
"In other words, indeed" he agreed.
"Can I ask something?"
"Feel free to"
"Why do you listen to him? I mean… why should you do as he says? This is your life" she took his hand "and our relationship. So the only people who have to say something about what or who we are is us"
"I know that but I did not wish to contradict him so shortly after the conversation. Besides, the situation itself required me to act as if there was nothing between us" she giggled
"Yeah. I suppose the ambassadors wouldn't have liked it if we had started making out right in front of them"
"Would you believe me if I assured you that I would have had nothing against the thought of kissing you in that situation?"
"Hmm…." she shrugged "I don't even know if you're willing to kiss me now. Now that we're alone" his free hand tangled into her hair when he gently placed his lips on hers
"As you have just seen I am" he then said
"Good, then I believe you" she gave a nod and snuggled closer to him.
"Does that mean you forgive me?"
"Well I've already told you many times… I can't stay mad at you for long. So I guess I've forgiven you the moment you told Leo that you wanted to see me. I thought you might be mad at me"
"Why would I?"
"They almost killed me because I had a stupid idea"
"I am certain that it could have succeeded"
"I basically ruined it myself… I should have stepped away so that they couldn't have gotten to me and threatened Ambassador Spock" he said nothing "You know, he saved my life at the time he pushed me out of the way when the Andorian wanted to shoot me… and a part of me thought you were mad because of that… because I clung to him"
"I understand why you have done it" she made an unidentifiable sound "Would you like to tell me what has happened?"
Dunno" she whispered but then just started talking about everything. As always, he listened and then was silent for some seconds "And I just don't know how they found that about us!" she growled. His hand reached for the necklace that he had given her on their anniversary
"Andorians know a lot more about Vulcan than we dare to imagine at certain times. I suppose he saw the necklace and made the conclusion that you were with a Vulcan. Furthermore, he must have seen the hematoma and concluded that said Vulcan is me since I was on the ship…"
"Sounds logical" she chuckled and watched how he stroked the gemstone with his thumb "You miss her a lot, don't you? Your mother?"
"To deny it would be a lie"
"She was your mother… it wouldn't be good if you didn't miss her. Hell, I've got no idea what I'd do if my Mum died…" she placed a hand on his and he let go of the necklace and squeezed her hand instead. "When did you last see her? I mean besides the day she died?"
"It was at the time she came to earth to attend the funeral of her father, on the 21 of March 2256"
"Did you know you grandpa well? My Dad's dad died before I was born and my Mum's mother has died about five years ago. But I know the others pretty well"
"No, I have not seen him very often"
"So you didn't go to the funeral?"
"I had classes"
"Oh. And you didn't want to take off?"
"No I did not"
"Well… if you didn't know him I can understand that…" she gave a shrug
"Can I ask how your grandmother's death has affected you?"
"Well she was my favorite grandma. So it was pretty bad. Besides, I got the message on a school day at the Academy. During lunch. So you can imagine who I felt the rest of the afternoon… especially when Oliver found out what it was and started taunting me. By the time the last lesson approached I only wanted to go home. Funnily enough, I didn't think about her too much when I was in your lesson then" she grimaced
"If it has been that grievous for you, you could have been excused from class"
"I considered doing that… but you know, I used to have a Vulcan professor and I supposed he wouldn't be pleased if I didn't come to his lessons just because of emotions" he raised an eyebrow
"It has not stopped you from staying away from my lessons following our separation"
"Well that had a logical reason why I stayed away" she raised her forefinger "I just couldn't see you at the time because that would have fucked me up even more"
"It seems indeed logical" she chuckled
"Okay, now I'm feeling weird. Sad and all. Kiss me that I can forget about my feelings"
"Would kissing not enhance your sentiments?"
"Well not the bad ones" she said and smiled before she leant closer until their lips were almost touching. He closed the distance and let his hand wander to her waist. Their kiss got more passionate but then was abruptly ended when her concussion made her vomit right over the biobed.
- oO0Oo -
The following day she got another visitor before Leonard let her leave. It was Ambassador Spock who wanted to see how she was doing.
"That's nice of you" she asked and summed up how she was doing then looked onto the bedsheets "And uh… thanks for what you did yesterday. You saved my life. Twice"
"You do not need to thank me. I have merely done what was right because I have lost you in my timeline and I did not want my counterpart to experience the same. Furthermore, I knew that this world needs you. At least your personal world does."
"Oh" she cracked her knuckles but couldn't help but smile.
"Please forgive me I did not want to make you feel uncomfortable"
"How do you… oh" she smiled "She must've done that too, your Carissa. Cracking knuckles when she was embarrassed or nervous"
"Indeed"
"But thanks anyway, again" she was unsure if it was appropriate to touch him, even through the clothes. Then she remembered something and raised her hand "High Five?" she asked and realized that she had not yet told her boyfriend about it. With a raise of his eyebrow he high-fived her, making her smile. He only left when McCoy returned and told Carissa that she could leave but shouldn't go to work.
"Dutoit's informed. He wishes you to get well soon"
"Oh thanks" she said with a smile then told the ambassador that he didn't have to leave right now, she could just stay here for a little longer. But he replied that he could use the time until lunch for meditation. "Oh okay" she gave a short nod and slipped off the bed with a sigh. The Vulcan accompanied her until they had to part ways to get to their quarters and once Carissa arrived in hers she lay down on the bed and watched a movie on her private PADD.
- oO0Oo -
To her dismay, Starfleet Command insisted that they started the first hearings on the ship. Since she was a victim too, she needed to be questioned. And because the Captain had been with them, Spock was requested to lead the questioning which calmed her down a little.
"As we have already heard from Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura, the accused, Akor Th'vithehr – an Andorian ambassador, has informed the other accused, Odede Misiani and Manuel Blake about your relationship with the Commander and First Officer of the Enterprise, myself?"
"Yes" she said having to bite back a grin
"Is this the truth? Are you in a relationship with me?" at this she snorted with laughter and she wasn't the only one
"Sorry" she muttered "Just the formulation. But yes, we are in a relationship"
"Can you confirm that Ambassador Th'vithehr has used this relationship as means of extortion against me to force to give up command of the vessel?"
"Yes, Sir. He said that you would have an hour for the decision or they would kill me" the rest of the questioning wasn't as bad as she had imagined and she was glad that not too many people were present. But she knew that she'd have to give testimony again once they reached Rigel IV to finish the process. However, a part of her was glad that they'd then be rid of the prisoners and that they'd be off the ship. However, it also meant that the Spock from the other timeline would leave as well. When Carissa remembered how her boyfriend said the he was the only ambassador he wanted her to spend time with alone, she couldn't help but smile. Anyone else would probably not want their girlfriend to spend time with another version of yourself, who had been in a relationship with the partner's counterpart. At times she really asked herself whether or not her Spock was jealous. At least a little bit. But maybe he just knew himself and knew that he'd never try something if he was in the situation of the time-traveler. It surprised her as well that he didn't want her to spend time alone with his father. She hoped it only was because of the conversation the two Vulcans had had about the relationship. However, her boyfriend had promised to talk to his father and tell him that it was his own life and his relationship and although she knew he would use polite and words as always the main message would be 'Fuck you, Dad. I'm grown up'