USS Enterprise NCC-1701
Sunday 30th January 1994
It was fair to say, McCoy thought grumpily, that Captain Kirk was in a bad mood, had been in fact, since the two doctors had returned from their mercy mission to France several days ago. And when the captain was irritable, he spread it around and made sure everyone suffered. Only Spock seemed unaffected by it, continuing his duties with the usual insufferable calm that really made McCoy want to rattle his cage.
It was also fair to say that Kirk had good reason to be cranky. The message Krang had given McCoy had caught all of them by surprise. The doctor still did not understand how the Klingon had recognised him.
Spock had made the very logical suggestion that as an Intelligence Officer, Krang would possibly have intimate knowledge of the Federation and Starfleet's flagship. Sarah on the other hand, had somewhat bitterly suggested that Chrissie had simply informed them of Enterprise's presence. It was only the warning look on David's face that had prevented her from expounding further on that topic. McCoy sighed; the conflict between the two did not bode well for their future relationship.
As it happened, most of the crew, at least, those who knew the story, agreed with Sarah, although not for the same reasons. Uhura had heatedly spoken up in Chrissie's defence, reminding them that she had been hurt and in need of medical treatment. It was her belief that Karg had tortured a confession out of her before he died. McCoy tended to agree with Uhura. Having been the one to treat Chrissie's injuries, he suspected Uhura's assessment had been correct – it took intensive training to withstand torture, training that McCoy knew Chrissie did not have.
Whatever the reasons, Enterprise was now sitting hidden in the rings of Saturn watching from a distance while the Vulcans retrieved their stranded crew. More waiting, McCoy thought disgustedly. They'd been doing nothing but wait and watch for a couple of weeks now and tension in the crew was increasing. They were all well trained professionals but still, it was difficult to stand by and do nothing. The department heads were all doing their best to keep the crew busy, improve morale and get all the routine maintenance work done. How many times had Scotty recalibrated the warp crystals, he wondered idly? Probably about as often as he had checked and rearranged the medical supplies in sickbay, much to Chapel's disgust. At least most of the crew physicals were up to date now; only the captain and one or two of the senior crew were outstanding. With that in mind, he'd taken the turbolift up to the bridge in an effort to persuade the captain to have his medical exam.
"Is that really necessary right now?" Kirk asked with obvious irritation.
"Yes, Jim, it is," McCoy insisted. "Constantly avoiding your medical sets a bad example for the crew. You know it won't hurt and it won't take long."
"Keptin," Chekov intervened, "Long range sensors are detecting a Klingon wessel approaching the planet.
"Saved by the bell," Kirk muttered. "That will be the courier ship. Sorry Bones, I can't leave the bridge right now." He turned to his first officer. "Spock, put the ship in silent mode as we discussed. Passive scans only. I'd prefer that they do not detect us."
"Initiating silent mode, Captain."
All over the ship, lights dimmed and machinery and equipment powered down. The senior crew watched anxiously as the Klingon courier ship came closer and closer, passing Saturn without detecting them and then Jupiter and Mars before slipping into geosynchronous orbit above Washington DC.
"Captain," Uhura announced tensely, "we are receiving a signal from the Vesaya. It's on a secure channel."
"Acknowledge," Kirk said at once, "audio only."
The voice was Sevek's. "We must inform you that our scans have detected chroniton radiation. We therefore accept your word that both you and the Klingons are from the future. We are an unarmed survey vessel and have therefore decided to return to Vulcan and request immediate assistance from the Vulcan Defence Force."
"Understood," Kirk responded. "Live long and prosper, Vesaya."
"Peace and long life, Enterprise."
Mauritius
Sunday evening 30th January 1994
"…and Mr and Mrs Bear walked hand in hand along…"
"Bears don't have hands," Toni protested, "they have paws."
"Very big paws," Fina agreed.
Krang growled, a low, rumbling sound that did not scare either child. "Who is telling this story?" he demanded. "Very well, for the sake of authenticity… Mr and Mrs Bear walked paw in paw along the beautiful sandy beach. And what happened next will have to wait until tomorrow night. Now settle down and go to sleep."
"Goodnight Vavoy," Fina said sleepily, snuggling down into the bedsheets.
Toni gave his sister an odd look but said only, "Goodnight, sir."
"maj ram, yInajchu'." Wishing the children and good night and sweet dreams, Krang closed the door and headed downstairs to find his mate. He never heard Toni muttering to his sister, "Don't call him that! He's not our father!"
Chrissie looked up from her magazine as he joined her on the patio. "How was story time?"
"I am running out of ideas," he complained. "I will have to read some of your Terran fairy tale books for inspiration."
"There's plenty to choose from," she said, laughing. "Shall I get you some wine?"
He was about to answer when his communicator shrilled. "I'd better answer it," he said reluctantly, reaching for the padd. As he spoke, he put in his passcodes and tied it into the comm-unit so he could take the call on video not just audio. "It'll be either Koreth or Kay'vin. They know I am on leave and would not call unless it were important."
He changed to his native language as Koreth's face appeared on the screen. "NuqneH?"
"I will keep this brief, sir," Koreth said, carefully not commenting on the tee-shirt his boss was wearing, "since I know you are still on leave, but I thought you should be aware that the courier ship has arrived. Incoming messages will be available in the next half hour or so."
"Understood." Krang swiftly calculated the time differences. "We will be returning to France tomorrow morning. I estimate that I should be able to get to London for mid-morning. Unless there is anything urgent, any messages can wait until then. Do you have anything else to report at this time?"
"Nothing that can't wait," Koreth said, "Except…" his expression darkened as he continued, "I have carried out an investigation into the unfortunate events of last week. I still need witness statements from Lieutenants Marla and Kay'vin when they return from their leave, but I doubt they will tell me anything I don't already know."
Krang frowned. "How bad is the rot?"
"I am recommending six men for execution, sir. Four bekks, one squad leader and one officer, Commander Gelz. I am also demoting another squad leader and putting two further squads on punishment duties."
"Very well," Krang said after a moment. "I trust your judgement. Go ahead and make the arrangements. I will sign off on the paperwork as soon as I have it on my desk. Well done, Koreth." With nothing further to say, he ended the call.
With some effort, the Klingon turned his attention back to his mate, standing patiently waiting for him. Chrissie studied him, her heart sinking as she saw the preoccupation in his eyes. They had been speaking too fast for her very limited knowledge of tlhingan Hol but it was evident that whatever they had been discussing, it had been serious. He was back in work mode now, his holiday mood gone as though it had never existed.
Madrid
Sunday evening, 30th January 1994
Delighting in their newfound intimacy, Kay'vin and Marla had remained in bed until late Saturday morning, calling to room service and having breakfast delivered. Terran ideas about the first meal of the day were distinctly odd but the sweet, crescent shaped pastries turned out to be very enjoyable. Actually, Marla reflected wryly, Terran ideas about pretty much everything were odd, but despite that, or maybe because of that, she was having fun immersing herself in their culture for a weekend.
Marla emerged from the bathroom and seeing Kay'vin's gaze on her, she mischievously did a little twirl, showing off her new outfit. "What do you think?"
Kay'vin studied her appearance. She was wearing a soft, pale blue woollen jumper that she'd matched with a pair of denim jeans in a darker blue colour and as she waited for his reaction, she donned the coat and that ridiculous hat. Terran fashion suited her, he thought appreciatively, although he much preferred the skirt she'd worn the previous day. He liked the way it showed off those long, shapely legs. Maybe, he thought with some optimism, she would put it on for him later. In the meantime, it was cold outside and trousers were much more practical. "You look beautiful," he said sincerely, "just as you always do." He held out a hand to her. "Shall we go?"
Wandering hand in hand through the city, appearing at first glance to be no different to any other couple in love, they'd eventually ended up in the Plaza Mayor. Marla had studied the paintings on the walls of the buildings. "They are very… um… interesting," she opined, elbowing Kay'vin and pointing to an image depicting a naked figure sitting on the back of a large feline and doing... well, actually, she was not sure what it was doing. To her great delight, he blushed, although quickly rallying, he leaned over and suggestively whispered that he would make her purr when they got back to their room. It was her turn to blush and not quite sure if she had won or lost that round, she turned her attention to the loud music she could hear on the other side of the square.
An enclosure had been set up, surrounding what appeared to be an artificially frozen lake and people were gliding around it, shouting and laughing and appearing to have a great deal of fun. Immediately interested, she moved closer. "Kay'vin, look! They are strapping knives to their feet! Why do we not do this back home in the winter?"
Kay'vin had a bad feeling he knew where this was going. She was going to insist on participating, he just knew it. Sure enough, she looked up at him with a big grin. "I want to try it."
By the time she was done, Kay'vin did not know whether to laugh at her antics on the ice or feel sorry for the Terran who was running things. The poor man had been frightened enough when he realised that the woman approaching him one of the alien invaders, but when she'd got up there on the ice, let go of the railing and promptly fell over, he'd been absolutely terrified, no doubt wondering how much trouble he would be in if she got hurt.
As Kay'vin watched, a couple of Terran girls helped her up and not seeming to care that she was alien, invited her to team up with them. She was a warrior, physically fit and quick on her feet. With a little help, she quickly got the hang of it and was soon skating with confidence.
When she'd finally emerged from the ice-rink, she'd been hungry and they'd stopped off at a tapas bar to get something to eat before moving on again. They'd ended up at the touristy flamenco shop where Kay'vin had bought the fan he'd given her, and he'd wickedly 'persuaded' Marla to try on the red flamenco dress. It was a long gown, bright scarlet with white polka dots all over it and white lace trim on the edges. Clinging to her body, it flared out from just below the hip into layers and layers of ruffles. More ruffles adorned the shoulders.
Greatly daring, the shop assistant pulled her hair back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and tucked a large artificial rose into one side before turning her to face the mirror. Marla stared at herself, not recognising the woman looking back at her. She felt ridiculous but she could not deny that the dress fitted as though it was made for her. When she turned and saw Kay'vin's face, she knew then that she would be buying this dress. She would wear it privately, for him and him alone – and if he ever told a soul, she'd kill him.
They'd intended to eat out that evening, but in the end, they'd had a meal in the hotel restaurant and spent the rest of the evening making love.
Sunday had passed in much the same way – early morning lovemaking followed by a late breakfast after which they'd gone to Atocha, where after marvelling at the idea of putting an arboretum inside a train station, they'd caught the train to Toledo to visit the sword factory. Neither of them had wanted the day to end and they returned very late, only just catching the last train back to Madrid. Deciding not to get a taxi, they'd made their way back to their hotel at a leisurely pace, stopping at several tapas bars on the way and partaking of the local food and beers.
As the couple strolled across the hotel foyer and stepped into the lift, Marla linked her arm through his, smiling up at him. "I have had a wonderful time, Kay'vin-oy," she told him.
He bent his head to kiss her, Tera'ngan fashion, and was still kissing her when the lift door opened, disgorging them onto the sixth floor. Breathlessly, he hustled her towards their room, fumbling for the key and almost dropping it before he managed to get the door open.
Slipping out of his grasp, she danced ahead of him, dropping her shopping bags in the hallway and heading for the bedroom where a blinking red light emanating from the padd he'd left on the bed caught her attention. "Kay'vin, your padd is flashing. I think you've got messages."
"Courier ship must have arrived," he said absently, more interested in her than the padd. He reached for her again but she pushed him away. "Aren't you going to take a look?"
With a long-suffering sigh, Kay'vin picked up his padd. "Two messages," he reported. "One is from home."
Marla jumped onto the bed and settled herself cross-legged in the middle of it. "Well?" she demanded, "Read it then."
Notes:
"maj ram, yInajchu'." Literally The night is good. Dream Perfectly.
The wall mural really exists and it really is as odd as I describe. If you google Casa de Panaderia, Plaza Mayor, Madrid you will see what it looks like.
Atocha train station is Madrid's largest train station. It has very impressive architecture and really does have a tropical garden inside it.
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Apologies for the problem with the last chapter, thanks to RobertBruceScott for letting me know so I could fix it.
Thanks as always to Solasnagreine and JDC0 for their lovely reviews.