Chapter Eight - Multiple Problems
Damian awoke to the whine of stressed engines, and Allison's cursing. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"Whassamatta?" he called, only half-awake.
"These engines have gone haywire! Get up here and help me find a planet to land us on!"
In a flash, he was fully awake and in the copilot's seat. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, making his blood feel as if it were burning...he clenched his hands for a moment, then pulled up a chart of the sector. "Here, Ael! Got an unnamed planet at thirty-five mark fifteen. Think you can land us in a forest?"
Even in the midst of the crisis, she grinned. "I can land this bucket anywhere!" she declared. "Lay in a course, and I'll see if I can get a few more klicks out of this baby."
"Aye, Captain!"
~~~~~~~
The planet was peaceful, covered in lush green grass and unbelievably huge trees with wide gaps in between them. Several types of birds flew from branch to branch, and strange-looking reptilian creatures crawled through the bushes and over rocks. All was peaceful.
That is, until a large white, blocky object came hurtling out of the sky. Birds screeched in alarm and scattered, while other creatures fled on the ground.
The shuttle crashed into the forest floor, burying the "nose" several feet into the soil of a small clearing. Steam rolled off the shiny metal covering and escaped into the atmosphere. After a few moments, the back hatch clanged open and two humanoids staggered out, a small bit of smoke billowing out of the craft above their heads.
"Well," Allison coughed. "THAT was certainly the most graceful crash- landing I've ever done."
"Umm-hmm."
Allison looked over at Damian. He was standing with his fists clenched, cheeks flushed a pale green, and he seemed to be shivering slightly. She winced, and finally decided on what she was going to do.
"Damian...have you felt odd lately?"
He blinked in surprise at the question. "Uhh...a little...why?"
She hesitated. "Well...I kind of forgot to tell you something about Vulcans."
"Oh, wonderful. What?"
"Uhh...you see, it's like this...every seven years..."
~~~~~~~
When she was finished explaining it to him, he looked over at her slightly sideways. "You're kidding, right?"
"Sorry, but I'm not."
He sighed. "Well, at least now I know what's wrong with me...and how I'm gonna die."
"No!"
Startled by her outburst, he merely stood completely still.
"I won't allow you to die, Damian. I know you've only know me for a short time, but I won't let you die from this." She stared into his eyes, pleading with him. " Dungi tu sahrafel ?"
He gazed back at her, and finally answered. " Kal-tor palikau ."
Silent once more, Allison held up two fingers on her right hand. Across from her, Damian also held up two fingers and touched them to hers.
"Damian...parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched," Allison said. " Wuhkuh eh teretuhr ."
Damian somehow knew what to say. "Allison-kam ...parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched... ki'sarlah ."
With the bond formed, the two Vulcans stepped back into the shuttle, and the ancient Vulcan cycle of pon farr took over, as it had for countless centuries.
~~~~~~~
The next day, Allison and Damian ventured out of the Igen'Zahelsu to check on the engines. The two stayed close together, though they didn't immediately realize it.
"The warp drive's shot, and we'll never make it out on impulse," Allison finally concluded after several minutes worth of digging through the engines' guts. "Looks like we hit some kind of meteor shower or something, and didn't realize it. Navigational shields must have temporarily failed...damn, of all the lousy, rotten luck..."
"So what do we do?" Damian asked, putting a toolbox away.
"We call for the Yel'Hal-tor and wait for them to come pick us up," she answered, heading for the back hatch.
And abruptly, both of them froze. "Do you hear that?" Damian whispered to her, knowing that his voice was well into the range of Vulcan hearing.
Allison nodded. "Come on, let's check it out," she said quietly.
They slowly, cautiously stepped out of the clearing and into the forest. The two Vulcans walked for several minutes without seeing anything, then Allison spotted something.
"Damian, look," she whispered.
They were surrounded by very thick trees, with some kind of nest near the top of each. Strange sounds came from the nests: some kind of growling or humming, accompanied by a sound of something cracking.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Allison said, and slowly began to back up.
The humming noise was quickly replaced by the sound of a thousand voices screeching, and both Vulcans turned to run.
Allison suddenly felt a massive weight on her back, accompanied by the sharp prick of claws digging into her back. Flipping over as she fell, she caught a sight of bronze skin and scales. She looked up into the face of a creature unlike she had ever seen before. It had a wedge-shaped head with glowing crystalline eyes, and behind each there was a tiny black spike. Its neck had a thick ridge of bronze skin, and the creature had many sharp teeth. Its still-wet wings were spread out, and its long tail was wrapped around next to Allison's head.
From another tree, she caught another flash of bronze as a similar creature dropped on top of Damian. He yelped and tried to get away, but the other creature had a firm grip on him.
The creature on top of Allison looked down at her, and placed its three- fingered, humanlike "hands" against her head. She felt a mental push, but did not feel fear at being invaded in such a manner. It looked at her with something like a smile on its face, and then her mind was completely opened to the creature.
Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, which are few but not unknown, pon farr is the Vulcan mating cycle. Every seven years, the Vulcan male experiences symptoms of fever, shaking limbs, loss of emotional control, breakdown of mental discipline, short-term memory loss, and severe chemical imbalance. Pon farr only ceases if the male mates with a female that is telepathically Bonded (married) to him. If he does not, the male dies within the week.
Damian awoke to the whine of stressed engines, and Allison's cursing. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"Whassamatta?" he called, only half-awake.
"These engines have gone haywire! Get up here and help me find a planet to land us on!"
In a flash, he was fully awake and in the copilot's seat. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, making his blood feel as if it were burning...he clenched his hands for a moment, then pulled up a chart of the sector. "Here, Ael! Got an unnamed planet at thirty-five mark fifteen. Think you can land us in a forest?"
Even in the midst of the crisis, she grinned. "I can land this bucket anywhere!" she declared. "Lay in a course, and I'll see if I can get a few more klicks out of this baby."
"Aye, Captain!"
~~~~~~~
The planet was peaceful, covered in lush green grass and unbelievably huge trees with wide gaps in between them. Several types of birds flew from branch to branch, and strange-looking reptilian creatures crawled through the bushes and over rocks. All was peaceful.
That is, until a large white, blocky object came hurtling out of the sky. Birds screeched in alarm and scattered, while other creatures fled on the ground.
The shuttle crashed into the forest floor, burying the "nose" several feet into the soil of a small clearing. Steam rolled off the shiny metal covering and escaped into the atmosphere. After a few moments, the back hatch clanged open and two humanoids staggered out, a small bit of smoke billowing out of the craft above their heads.
"Well," Allison coughed. "THAT was certainly the most graceful crash- landing I've ever done."
"Umm-hmm."
Allison looked over at Damian. He was standing with his fists clenched, cheeks flushed a pale green, and he seemed to be shivering slightly. She winced, and finally decided on what she was going to do.
"Damian...have you felt odd lately?"
He blinked in surprise at the question. "Uhh...a little...why?"
She hesitated. "Well...I kind of forgot to tell you something about Vulcans."
"Oh, wonderful. What?"
"Uhh...you see, it's like this...every seven years..."
~~~~~~~
When she was finished explaining it to him, he looked over at her slightly sideways. "You're kidding, right?"
"Sorry, but I'm not."
He sighed. "Well, at least now I know what's wrong with me...and how I'm gonna die."
"No!"
Startled by her outburst, he merely stood completely still.
"I won't allow you to die, Damian. I know you've only know me for a short time, but I won't let you die from this." She stared into his eyes, pleading with him. " Dungi tu sahrafel ?"
He gazed back at her, and finally answered. " Kal-tor palikau ."
Silent once more, Allison held up two fingers on her right hand. Across from her, Damian also held up two fingers and touched them to hers.
"Damian...parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched," Allison said. " Wuhkuh eh teretuhr ."
Damian somehow knew what to say. "Allison-kam ...parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched... ki'sarlah ."
With the bond formed, the two Vulcans stepped back into the shuttle, and the ancient Vulcan cycle of pon farr took over, as it had for countless centuries.
~~~~~~~
The next day, Allison and Damian ventured out of the Igen'Zahelsu to check on the engines. The two stayed close together, though they didn't immediately realize it.
"The warp drive's shot, and we'll never make it out on impulse," Allison finally concluded after several minutes worth of digging through the engines' guts. "Looks like we hit some kind of meteor shower or something, and didn't realize it. Navigational shields must have temporarily failed...damn, of all the lousy, rotten luck..."
"So what do we do?" Damian asked, putting a toolbox away.
"We call for the Yel'Hal-tor and wait for them to come pick us up," she answered, heading for the back hatch.
And abruptly, both of them froze. "Do you hear that?" Damian whispered to her, knowing that his voice was well into the range of Vulcan hearing.
Allison nodded. "Come on, let's check it out," she said quietly.
They slowly, cautiously stepped out of the clearing and into the forest. The two Vulcans walked for several minutes without seeing anything, then Allison spotted something.
"Damian, look," she whispered.
They were surrounded by very thick trees, with some kind of nest near the top of each. Strange sounds came from the nests: some kind of growling or humming, accompanied by a sound of something cracking.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Allison said, and slowly began to back up.
The humming noise was quickly replaced by the sound of a thousand voices screeching, and both Vulcans turned to run.
Allison suddenly felt a massive weight on her back, accompanied by the sharp prick of claws digging into her back. Flipping over as she fell, she caught a sight of bronze skin and scales. She looked up into the face of a creature unlike she had ever seen before. It had a wedge-shaped head with glowing crystalline eyes, and behind each there was a tiny black spike. Its neck had a thick ridge of bronze skin, and the creature had many sharp teeth. Its still-wet wings were spread out, and its long tail was wrapped around next to Allison's head.
From another tree, she caught another flash of bronze as a similar creature dropped on top of Damian. He yelped and tried to get away, but the other creature had a firm grip on him.
The creature on top of Allison looked down at her, and placed its three- fingered, humanlike "hands" against her head. She felt a mental push, but did not feel fear at being invaded in such a manner. It looked at her with something like a smile on its face, and then her mind was completely opened to the creature.
Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, which are few but not unknown, pon farr is the Vulcan mating cycle. Every seven years, the Vulcan male experiences symptoms of fever, shaking limbs, loss of emotional control, breakdown of mental discipline, short-term memory loss, and severe chemical imbalance. Pon farr only ceases if the male mates with a female that is telepathically Bonded (married) to him. If he does not, the male dies within the week.