It was as if a wormhole opened beneath Spock. Without moving, he was propelled into a new setting: the school he grew up in, but newer. There was a girl, who bared resemblance to him, in a way, working on multiple tablets at once, solving complex equations. When she grew frustrated, her Vulcan mother chastised her for expressing the feeling. A new scene: her human father comforted her and assured her there was nothing wrong with being human.
He saw: the Vulcan science academy, medicine, more studies in San Francisco, and Starfleet academy. His vision blurred again, and his body heated, the blood fever, a return to Vulcan. He felt the kiss of a bond mate- Pon Farr. No child resulted. Disappointment. Another picture emerged: a lab.
She kept an exterior cool despite internal conflict. She was promoted, consistently. More swirls- a starship- a space battle- two- three. The planet Vulcan exploded into a black hole- grief- mother- grief- mate.
A new lab appeared, then went dark. Sirens flooded in. He sat down in front of a webcam, but saw her face in the reflection, recording the instruction video. There was heat and loud crashing. Stay. The scientist stayed behind to transfer cells into a transport case. She carried the box out of the room and down the hall, but the railing failed and the box slipped from her grip and onto the stairs. Her colleagues laid about the floor, some screaming, some dead. Pain. Klingons charged the staircase. Fear. Some coworkers fizzled elsewhere.
Board the door. He struggled to move a lab bench in front of the door. Chaos raged from outside and below. His heart thumped in his throat. Hide under a counter. The sounds of screams faded, but the crashing sounds continued. The door smashed and the bench flew sideways.
A hand, rough and strong, grabbed her ankle and drug her from under the bench. He felt the pressure of the larger figure fall on top of his, cracking into his chest. He felt the slicing of a claw at clothing, Terror.
"If I'm gonna die, you'd better be worth it." His attacker's breath was hot and rancid.
A phaser sounded, then a crack. PAIN. It went dark.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning shot through the red sky.
A matching crack rang through her head. Her hand flung to her head, touching the back as she winced. When she withdrew her hand, it dripped with green blood. A force lurched her forward, like falling, but while upright, like the G-force experienced in an unstable starship. Her beautiful garden whizzed out of sight.
Her vision grinded to a halt in a schoolroom, one she'd been in herself, but it appeared to be earlier. A small boy, who bared a resemblance to her, in a way, working on multiple tablets at once, solving complex equations. Other boys his age made fun of him, and they fought. She was pulled into another scene, the boy's mother healed his wounds and comforted him. His father sternly lectured about maintaining an internal equilibrium.
Again, there were blurs as she blew elsewhere, into the Starfleet Academy she'd trained it, but again earlier. The little boy was a young man now. He struggled with some classmates but exceled in his studies. He kept an exterior cool despite internal conflict. He was promoted, consistently. More swirls- a starship- a space battle- two- three. The planet Vulcan exploded into a black hole- grief- mother. She felt the kiss of a beautiful woman with soft, rich, brown skin. Affection. They fought. She was dismissed. Pain. Guilt. New Vulcan came into view- hope- another starship.
The Pike Memorial Research Station came into view- on fire.
"No." She shook her head.
He transported down to the station with a companion, fire, wires crackling. They ran up stairs. Her eyes became his as she felt the cold on her hands of a cryo-protective capsule. More stairs- a scream- she heard her own voice without having moved her mouth at all.
"No!" She felt disbelief mixed with a surge of disgust. Her throat felt as though it was closing. A scratch raked its way down her torso as her dress tore. She began to breath too quickly, like she couldn't inhale all the way, there was pressure. Smoke filled her lungs. She felt cracking in her abdomen and cried out, grabbing at her side. The pain burned.
"If I'm gonna die, you'd better be worth it." The voice froze her. A Klingon wrestled with something on the ground. A large, strong hand with claws, fur, and cracked skin made its way up her thigh.
"Stop," She whispered, tears coming to her eyes. She aimed a phaser and saw her reflection in the glass cabinet that was not her own face.
CRACK. Everything went black.
Once again, Dr. Vida found herself standing in the garden, but this time, closer to the house's entrance. Confused, she turned to look behind her, and saw the man she's seen in her own reflection.
Spock found himself at last steady, on a cliff overlooking the capital of Vulcan. "Impossible…" He turned around to find a house behind him, with a woman near the door. "Vivian."
She took a step away from the door. "Spock." Without understanding how or why, she knew that she knew him, without having met him. He was tall and lean, not bony but not muscular either. Most of his features were Vulcan, but some suggested humanity. In her core, she knew they were alike in this way.
He found her more intriguing upright and conscious. She was tall, not quite his height but at least to his brow bone, and she wore a nearly sheer set of pink robes. When he looked down, he noticed himself, not in his Starfleet uniform, but blue robes similar to hers, yet not nearly as flattering. Her hips and bust were full, and the more slight space in the middle seemed suited for having arms wrapped around her. Her breasts were rounded at the bottom, but pert, and just larger than his hands. This along with her ample rear, were uncharacteristic of the Vulcan people, as they did not tend to carry extra flesh.
Only having looked at her body for a moment, he met her eyes. Big and brown, what Kirk would call "doe" eyes. He took a step closer to the home. "It would appear we are on planet Vulcan…despite it having been destroyed years ago."
"And yet, here we are."
"At your mother's home." It was less of question and more of statement, as he seemed to know the answer before his inquiry came out.
Vivian proudly glanced over the building before an unease began in her gut, prompting her to take a defensive step forward.
"How did you get here?" Both mouths moved, both voices came out together, like a distorted, otherworldly vocal harmony. "I do not know." Both flinched and twitched their heads to one side.
Her voice broke through. "I died in the attack of the Pike Memorial Research Station. If you are here, you must have died as well, as the living and the dead do not frequently cross paths."
"Vivian, you are not, at this moment, deceased."
"What?" Confusion. She read his face for an answer, "I do not understand…My station was attacked- I stayed behind for-"
"The embryos- project Keshtan, I-"
"You?"
"Know. They survived." The voices blended again, resulting in shared shudder: hers, a question, his, a statement.
Relief. A slight smile crossed her face, "Miraculous…Someone on the new colony can continue-"
"Why can't you continue for yourself?"
"I'm-"
"You're-"
"Dead." Another tick and wince. "But, you are not dead. I was murdered by an invading Klingon, in my lab. I beamed down. You were injured, but we escaped, back to the Enterprise." The voices buzzed together again.
Her voice broke the buzz, "And I am there now?"
"In body, yes. In spirit, it seems you are at a crossroads." Before she could ask him to elaborate, his answer appeared in her mind. "Vivian, you were using life sustaining measures…Our ship was hit by an electrical storm. Those measures no longer function. You can't stay here."
"Where is here- limbo, but a garden, but I like it here. I miss my mother," The voices rang out in unison again, causing each to grab their own head.
"Then I must go it seems." Vivian looked back at the house.
"That would be illogical. Your work is vital-"
"Someone else-"
"Someone else may be able to continue your existing projects, but your perspectives are unique. I have no doubt that you could continue to produce groundbreaking theory. Your death would be a significant loss, not only to New Vulcan but to the galaxy in its entirety." In his mind, and in his eyes, she could sense his sincerity and with his words, she felt an obligation.
Her eyes began to water, "The smoke…the fall…"
"The last thing I remember was the pain in my head." Another mind merge, resulting in shouts from them both. His eyes welled with hers.
"Everything hurt, so much- my body, the grief…"
"I know. I can help-"
"And if I go on…I greet family…but if I stay…I wake up alone."
Spock shook his head and took another step forward, closing the distance between them, "No, not alone. I'm there right now." His hand brushed her hair away from her face. "There are things you still want to accomplish…You have interest in finding another bond mate, experiencing motherhood for yourself, and writing about it. You feel the need to expand your work to other species, to help them. You would like to be credited properly for your current contributions." Vivian managed a small smile.
Spock paused for a moment. "Do you trust me?"
Hesitantly, she reached out her hand. He returned the gesture. When their fingertips met, they locked eyes, and when their palms touched, the wind picked up around them, blasting them with dust.
"What's happening?!" Two voices tangled violently as they swirled into oblivion.
Pain.
With a shout, Spock fell to his knees and withdrew his hands from Vivian's head.
"Spock!" McCoy and other medical staff members finally flooded the room.
Spock gripped his side as it burned. His head felt as though his head would explode, causing his vision to go white. He gasped and fell against the wall. His eyes shot back to the woman in bed.
"What'd you do?!"
Suddenly, there were gasps and choking sounds from the bed itself. Vivian writhed in place, groaning audibly.
"Pain meds-," he panted, "Please…give us-her-something."
"My God she's awake! What the hell happened here?!"
Spock ripped a disposable bag from the bedside and wretched.
"Mr. Spock! Are you alright?!" Nurse Chapel rushed in and knelt at the Vulcan's side.
Dr. McCoy grabbed for a syringe and jammed it into her neck. Almost immediately, her muscles relaxed and the groaning stopped. Simultaneously, Spock sighed with relief and began to catch his breath. The doctor turned on a small light and pried open his patient's eyelid. The pupils reacted. She squinted and pulled away in response.
He put a finger under her hand. "Vivian, if you can hear me, squeeze my finger." It wasn't a tight grip, but her soft hand closed. Her heartbeat stabilized and her lungs were now working on their own.
As the nurse disposed of the sick bag, Spock pulled himself into a nearby chair. The lights returned to their normal white glow.
"Power's been restored Cap'n," A voice announced from overhead.
"Copy that," Kirk answered, finally making his way into the intensive care suite, followed closely by Uhura. "Spock you look like hell."
Uhura rushed in to his side, almost slamming into Nurse Chapel who was returning to her post just there. "What happened to you?"
Spock nodded at McCoy working over the bed, who spoke up, "Dr. Vida, my name's Leonard McCoy. I've been your physician for the past week, and I'd like to keep treating you if that's ok. Welcome aboard."
"She's awake?!" A chorus of Kirk, Uhura, and Nurse Chapel all chimed in together.
"I don't know how he did it, but that son of a bitch pulled her out before the systems shut off." McCoy smirked and shook his head before looking to all the women in the room. "Apologies for the language. But really, what'd you do?"
"I was concerned that if Dr. Vida succumbed to her injuries, her work would be lost, and New Vulcan would suffer." He met Uhura's eye for a moment but quickly looked away, "Performed a mind meld to bring her to consciousness." Guilt. While such a feeling was illogical, Spock felt strangely about having announced that to his ex-girlfriend. She had often requested he try to mind meld with her, but he had always declined. To make matters worse, the reason he'd cited for ending their relationship was that he hoped to partner off with another Vulcan for the sake of the species. Dr. Vida just happened to be that too.
Uhura's face changed as her eyes lowered. An intuitive woman, she'd put the whole story together.
Kirk looked confused, "I thought when two Vulcans, you know, like a guy and a girl mind melded- I don't know- it was a mating thing."
Nurse Chapel turned to Spock, alarmed.
"It CAN be, but that was not the intention here."
Uhura excused herself. Helplessly, Spock watched her leave.
"So you got hurt because she was hurt?" McCoy reasoned.
"Yes, but the mental link should fade momentarily." Spock was unsure if he was convincing his crew or himself.