Vulcan Shadows
By Estellio
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Spock goes missing and all evidence points to McCoy while he is following cryptic clues to find him. However, after discovering one of Spock's most shocking secrets will McCoy still be able to help or will he condemn his friend to death and commit professional suicide? First, do not harm.
IOIOIO
Enterprise 2252.
Nurse Liya Niara smoothed the shimmering lime fabric at her hips and looked herself up and down in the mirror. With a shake of her head she began to rearrange the curls that hung to her shoulders and grabbing a silver clip from her nightstand, she twisted the curls up high on her head, fastening them so that they spilled down her neck to only half their original length.
"I still don't like it." She said with a sigh, pulling the clip from her hair and letting her curls fall wildly around her. She smiled at herself, thinking about the legend of the Amazons she had enjoyed so much as a child but knew she could hardly go to the party dressed like an Amazon.
"What to do, what to do." She said idly to herself, tapping her lips with the clip.
A loud buzzing at the door interrupted her thoughts, and thinking it would be one of the nurses come to pick her up, she beckoned them to enter, pulling her curls off her face again and then scrubbing her hands through them, making them look wilder that ever.
"Nurse?" She turned at the sound of Spock's voice and realising how she must look her tanned skin immediately darkened further. "If this is an inconvenient time then…"
"No Spock, I was just doing my hair. What do you want?"
"I was wondering if you have seen V'au. She has not yet come home and I am…" He paused, realising what he was going to say.
"Don't worry Spock, this is a starship, it's not like she can go anywhere, is it? When I saw her earlier it looked like she had had an epiphany and was off to go stir up some mischief, no doubt." Spock's eyebrow raised but he didn't comment. "Okay, Spock. Before you go." Niara said as he turned to leave. "Which do you prefer, up." She said, pulling her curls up into a rough pony tail with his hands. "Or down." She asked, letting her curls fall and arranging them to look a little neater than her attempt at an Amazon look, earlier.
"With your hair up it shows off your features to a fuller effect." He said, matter-of-factly. "But your hair down does provide a striking contrast for you eyes, and is different to your usual style of hair." She smiled enigmatically at him as he spoke.
"I'm flattered that you've noticed my hair but is that and up or a down…or some up some down?" Spock raised an eyebrow walking forward.
"As an only child I was often subjected to my mothers indecisiveness over her appearance." He said, coming up behind her and taking her hair into his hands. "I quickly learned the fine art that is 'making up'." He said, his fingers working deftly through his hair. "Although your features very greatly from my mothers, this was a hairstyle she preferred and I believe will suit you to your satisfaction." She herd the click of her make-up box opening and the rustle as he went through the small bag that contained her hair accessories. A few moments later he stepped away and she looked in the mirror. Her breath caught in her throat.
Her curls were piled on her head with two strands falling down before her ears, he was right, it was very satisfactory.
"Spock, it's lovely. You'll have to teach me to do that." She turned around and hugged him, A very stunned Spock stood perfectly still until she let him go. "Who knew you were a man of so many hidden talents."
"Yes, well…" If Niara didn't know any better, she would have sworn Spock looked incredibly uncomfortable. "I must go and find V'au."
"Listen, everyone is going to the party, logic dictates she'll be heading there too. Right?" Spock mulled this over a moment.
"It does make sense." He conceded but before he could make a point against he she had taken his arm.
"Well then, lets go." She dragged a somewhat reluctant Spock out of her quarters and towards the mess, however, just as they came to the doors of the mess Spock stopped dead in his tracks.
"What is it?" Niara asked, turning back to him.
"Listen." He said, his features surprisingly soft, the barest tilt to his mouth. Niara tilted her head to one side, listening. Indeed, the mess was far quieter than any party had the right being but she didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.
"What is it Spock, I don't hear anything?"
"I believe your hypothesis was correct, Nurse." She raised an eyebrow with a slight smile on her lips.
"Oh really? What hypothesis is that?"
"Enter and you shall see." Threading her arm through his and smiling at him wickedly, Niara made her entrance to the hall. Upon seeing her, several of her friends turned to salute her but found themselves dumbstruck with slack jaws upon seeing her companion. The young Vulcan science officer who had recently come aboard was hot property but every attempt made at getting to know him had been refuted in a polite, if sterile, manner. Nurse Sandys, a young Philippine nurse, smiled wickedly at her, winking and turning back to a group of Red Shirts.
"As you can see, you were correct." Spock said, gesturing vaguely to a makeshift stage where the band had been set up. In the middle of it, in front of the microphone singing, was V'au. Her quiet, if beautiful voice, amplified by the microphone to fill the mess with a beautiful carol she had never heard before.
"Quiet the little singer, our V'au." Niara said as the song ended. Both of eyebrows shot up at the statement.
"She is hardly ours, Nur…" Niara held up her hand.
"Call me Nurse Niara and I'll pinch your ears, Spock. Call me Liya, we're not on duty."
"…Liya." Spock said, as if trying it out. "I will reiterate, she is hardly ours, Liya." She just rolled her eyes as if she had heard it all before, before pulling Spock towards her group of friends.
"Whatever, Spock. Well since you came to the party to get V'au, and it doesn't appear she'll be leaving anytime soon, I guess you might as well mingle."
"Mingle?" Spock's question went unanswered as he became centre of attention from about five nurses and three Yeoman.
"Spock, I'd like you to meet Nicola, Patricia, Kolya, Sarah and Linux." She said, gesturing to each of the nurses. "And this is Elaine, Vicky and Niamh. Guys, this is Spock." Illogically, Spock felt heat rising to his face as all the girls began to fuss over him.
"Oh! I remember you, you were the lovely blue shirt who helped me with the cell cultures, I never got a chance to thank you for that." The nurse Liya had indicated as Sarah came forward, giving him a small hug.
"One does not thank logic." Spock said, trying to get his bearings in the conversation, however, he only found himself confused at the outburst of laughter from everyone.
"Well, thank God for logic!" Linux said, still chuckling. She was taller that the others with pale skin and hair, judging by the cut of her hair and the jewellery she wore, she was from Luna.
"Is that a Hamma'dai?" Spock asked, indicating the finger long ring she wore on her pinkie. At this, Linux smiled.
"Why yes it is, I didn't know you had an eye for jewellery, Mister Spock." She said, with a flourish of her hand, showing all who had not seen the pale blue metal ring to everyone in the group.
"I've never seen anything quite like that. What's it made of?" Yeoman Elaine said, taking Linux' hand in her own to examine the piece closer.
"It made of a metal only found on Luna. Often fashioned into jewellery for it's aesthetic beauty and flexibility." Linux applauded him.
"Well done, Mister Spock. Are you a connoisseur?"
"No, however my mother had a chain made of it, that she was very fond of."
"I see…" She smiled, as if something occurred to her. "Do you know what the Hamma'dai symbolises, Mister Spock?" Spock raised a smug eyebrow.
"Indeed, a Hamma'dai shows a woman without a man. It is traditionally worn on the farthest finger on both hands. It's hooked end is for protection in a fight, protection a woman, symbolically, does not need if she is married." The ring began an immediate source of interest, with each girl proclaiming her interest in having one.
"When I said you were a man of many hidden talents, I had no idea there was this many. I'll have to start making a list to remember them all." Liya said, poking fun at the tall Vulcan. "How did you know that?" Spock took a deep breath, recalling a less than pleasant memory.
"I was propositioned by a girl at the academy, and when I refused her proposal she was…less than pleased. While the medic was stitching my face, he explained to me the significance of her ring and why she struck me with it." Liya's left eye twitched several times, her mouth in a thin line, but try to hold it in as she might, she found herself doubled over with laughter.
"My God Spock! You're killing me!" The group of girls immediately lost interest in the ring, turning back to Liya and Spock.
"What?" Vicky asked with a raised eyebrow that would do any Vulcan proud.
"You wanna know how he knows what the Hamma'dai is?" She asked, wiping a tear from her eye. "Tell 'em Spock. It's brilliant." Spock reiterated the story to the girls and was soon faced with nine hysterical woman, laughing so hard they were practically crying.
"What, did I miss something?" Piper asked, coming up behind them with a winning smile.
"Oh, Doc. You missed it!" Kolya, a belligerent Martian roared, slapping him on the back. "I'm tellen' ya, that Spock there, he's a fountain of knowledge and a barrel of laughs." With a questioning smile Piper stepped forward and put a hand on Spock's shoulder.
"Well ladies, I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal away your barrel fountain for a few minutes. Guy stuff." A few of the girls scoffed but leapt on the opportunity to quiz a smirking Liya.
"Yes, Doctor?" Spock asked, as they moved to the drinks table.
"I wanted to talk to you about V'au." Piper said as he retrieved to flutes of wine from the table, handing one to Spock.
"Is there something wrong."
"Actually, yes. I ran a blood test on her today. It's not the first but I ran it for a specific reason." He chuckled suddenly. "She said that if I ran one more, she'd have to alert the crew I was a vampire, but that's beside the point. Spock. Has she been eating a lot of sweets?" Spock nodded, looking slightly put off.
"Indeed, no matter what I seem to tell her, or restrict her too, she takes the sweets that the crew give her without hesitation." Piper nodded, heading towards a quieter spot in the room.
"Yes, well…did you know the sugar reacts with Vulcans same way alcohol reacts to humans?" Spock shook his head, both eyebrows reaching his hairline.
"Are you saying that V'au has been getting intoxicated?"
"No wonder the child is as high as a kite half the bleedin' time. Look, no more sugar for her. AT ALL! Got it Spock?" He nodded, moving to approach the stage but Piper took hold of his arm. "Not so fast, Speedy. I need you down in the medical bay tomorrow morning, first thing. There's something I want you to see."
"What is it, Doctor?" Spock asked, seeing the nervous look on Pipers face.
"Spock, I don't know how to say this but…I don't think V'au's fully Vulcan." Spock's eyebrow went into orbit of the ship in record time.
"Excuse me?"
"There are these strange protein markers in her blood, DNA that doesn't seem to match with the Vulcan norm, sweat glands, no nictitating membrane, different cranial structure, different brain structure even!" Piper said, shaking his head as he sipped his wine. "Some bits look Vulcan, some bits don't. I really don't know what she is but I'm running a scan now. I should have the answers for you in the morning. I know she's been here over a month, and I should have seen this sooner but I've been taking care of her health, not checking her race." Spock nodded, his eyes falling on V'au who was swaying on stage, singing away, with the band playing jovially behind her.
"Although it is unusual for a Vulcan to procreate outside the specie…it is not unheard of." Spock said, swallowing around a lump in his throat. "I, myself, am only half Vulcan."
"Spock, whatever the other half is, it isn't human. I'll tell you that much straight off. Nor is it Andorian or Klingon or Rigellian or any other specie I've seen before. It's definitely Vulcanoid and similar in many respects to a Vulcan just…as if…just different. I'll have more for you in the morning. Alright Spock?" Spock nodded, seeing several of the nurses waving at him and making gestures he was not familiar with.
"They're asking if they should rescue you, Spock." Piper translated with a small smile. "You can head back to your groupies now Spock." Piper clapped him on the shoulder, putting down his now empty flute and rejoining his small group.
IOIOIO
Shau-bo, Present Day.
"KOPLA! NEH'HEK SAM-MON!" V'au swore, clutching her greening hand as the sparks flew out of the panel in the floor.
"WHAT? WHAT?" A somewhat dishevelled and sleepy McCoy appeared from the sleeping area at the sound of cursing. V'au was hissing at her hand in a language he didn't know and cradling it to her chest. With a sigh he crouched down next to her and coaxed the damaged appendage away from the protection of her chest.
"Oh, that's a nasty electrical burn." He said, tutting critically. "How many times has Scotty or one of his boys come to me with this." He smiled sleepily as he retrieved the med-kit from his room. "Here, give me your hand. Relax, I'll have this fixed in a jiff." V'au watched him work quietly, a strange look of nostalgia on her face.
"Who's Scotty?" She asked when McCoy returned her hand.
"Oh, Scotty? He's out Chief Engineer. Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott. Born and bred Scottish Engineer." V'au smiled.
"I know an Engineer from Scotland once! His name was Donalbain, Donalbain Beckett. He was only an Ensign then but he's probably a Commander or something by now." V'au said, examining her hand.
"Donalbain? That's an odd name, I'll bet you dinner that Scotty knows him. I'll ask him once we get back to the Enterprise." V'au nodded, a frown crossing her features.
"I wont be going back to Enterprise, I'll drop you and Spock off at a station and then I'm heading for the Klingon Empire. Got some business to attend to, you know?"
"Actually, I didn't." McCoy said, closing up the kit. "Why don't you and Spock spend some time together? I think he'd like it, I think you might like it." V'au shook her head vehemently.
"Nah, I've lived this long without him, I'll keep on going. I better get back to work. Those Phasers wont align themselves you know, and I want to be ready for our inevitable tousle with that Igralein Spice Freighter. These phaser don't have a 'disable' setting like your Federation ones so I'm going to have to be real careful." She pulled away from McCoy and returned to her work in the hatch.
"V'au…Spock…I think he…well…I don't think he likes the way things are between you two. He and his Dad were like that for nearly eighteen years and they made up recently. Don't you think you should give it a try?"
"You can't cross a burn bridge, Doc."
"No, but you can rebuild it."
"Lets leave the rebuilding till after we secure the builder in question." McCoy chuckled lightly. "What?" V'au asked, her hands stilling their work as she turned to face McCoy.
"Oh, nothing, I just have a funny mental image of Spock in denim dungarees and a yellow hardhat." V'au smirked and returned to work as McCoy returned to his makeshift sleeping quarters.
The door was an old style hatchway, not a sliding one like on the Enterprise and he took the chance to watch her. She had the same look of concentration that he always saw on Spock when he was fussing over an experiment. Maybe it was the way her slanted brows furrowed, or her eyes narrowed, or even how her mouth was slightly open, but he couldn't help but see Spock in her place. He was perfectly aware that V'au was only his adoptive child but looking at her, it was obvious a lot of Spock had rubbed off.
"Come on you stupid hunk of space crap, reset." She sat back on her haunches, ad taking the wrench in her hand she smacked whatever was in the panel, hard, once. The sound of power building filled the cockpit. "Ah, a woman's touch." She said, a bright smile lighting up her features for a brief moment before she sank back onto the floor with a sigh, her free hand coming up to trace the outline of the tattoo that curved around her eye
"Computer, ETA with the freighter?" The computer spat something unintelligible out and V'au sighed, rolling back onto her feet. "Computer, status of shield generator." McCoy watched as she sank into the chair, bone weary, and shook his head.
Another thing Spock and her shared in common, they didn't know when to take a time out.
IOIOIO
Enterprise: 2252.
Spock felt something tug at the hem of his sleeve and he looked down to see V'au standing by his side, beaming up at him.
"Are you ready to leave yet?" He asked and the girl smiled.
"Yeah, come on." She gripped his hand and pulled him in the middle of the dancers, pausing when she reached the middle.
"I will not dance with you." Spock stated, as she stopped but she was too bust patting her hips furiously.
"Oh no! I forgot it! Stand right here. RIGHT here. I'll be back." Without further ado she ducked off between everyone's legs, disappearing into the multi coloured throng. It only took him a moment to spot her again, weaving her way through the crowd, but when she appeared he realised she wasn't alone, but rather had Liya in tow.
"What is it you want me to see…Spock?" She looked up from V'au, in surprise at the Vulcan. "I was wondering where you got…umph!" She fell against him as V'au gave her a rather unceremonious push in his direction.
"Now, I'm not going till ye start dancing." She said, crossing her arms obstinately.
Liya looked scandalised and Spock set V'au with his most stern look.
"V'au. We are going home, now!" Spock said, making a grab for the child.
"No we ain't cause I'm dancing." She turned and let Lt. Power's scoop her up and spin her around, with her laughing happily.
"Why that cheeky little devil." Liya said, hands on hips. "You know, as we're here we might as well. Can you dance Mister Spock?" Liya asked, extending a hand and was shocked when Spock pulled her close.
"One extra curricular activity was required for a passing grade, I saw no point to Velocity, aromatherapy or Film Study so I chose Dance." For the umpteenth time that night, Spock surprised her by beginning the moves of that Andorian Three-moon.
Liya's mouth went dry as she circled slowly in his arms, pressed close and out of the corner of her eyes she saw V'au collecting credits off about twenty Engineers.
"You know." Liya said with a grin. "That this was staged as a bet?"
"I had an idea."
"I can see V'au collecting the money now."
"I'm sure you'll receive your forty percent." She laughed, leaning her head on Spock's shoulder and letting the slow, easy beat of the music transport her to another world where nothing else existed.
It was a bliss in it's own right.
"Now, I'd like to direct everyone on the dance floors attention to the ceiling above them." She heard Pike say over the speakers and looking up Liya was mortified to see strings of Mistletoe suspended above the dance hall.
"You've gotta be kidding me." She breathed, looking panicked at Spock. "Spock…You don't have to…"
"That is Mistletoe, correct?" He interrupted.
"Oh, yeah."
"A pagan symbol. Poisonous when ingested however…is the tradition not when a man and a woman stand beneath mistletoe that they kiss?"
"Spock…you don't have to." She said, feeling a blush rise to her face.
"It is tradition, is it not?" Everyone around them was either in a passionate embrace or pecking each other on the cheek so Liya went for the safe option and kissed his cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Spock."
IOI
V'au cheered from where she sat with the Engineering crew.
"What is it, V'au?" Yeoman Henley asked, leaning down to her height.
"They did it! My plan worked! I can stay on the ship now, I have a mommy!"