The ship was small. Jim took a deep breath and looked around the bridge. His tiny crew fit well enough. Uhura was already complaining about the delay. Bones was half sauced and smirking as she melted down.
"She's a wee little thing." Scotty ran his hand along the console. "But she's not lacking for power. We could actual carry a pair of these on the Enterprise without a problem."
"It's an idea." Kirk nodded. "More mobility, the ability to divide the crew if needed. If this test goes well, I'll send in a proposal."
Nyota huffed out a breath and glared at him. Her irritation was at optimal levels. He considered pushing her further. Her meltdowns were legendary, but there was a slim chance that Spock needed them. It was better to get underway.
"Set a course for the new Vulcan home world." He turned toward his seat. "Scan for signs of Vulcan vessels. There's a chance we could catch up to them with this little baby."
Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Dropping her shoulders, she made her body relax. It was far too easy to get caught up in the stress of it all.
Luna's visions were causing a few issues inside the main case. Nothing the seer had glimpsed was unexpected, but confronting the time scale that they had to work with was concerning. Tensions were running high, and she was bloody damned tired of dealing with all of it.
She leaned back on the pillows she'd brought up from below and let herself rest. Her body was strained. Without an anchor, her magic was roiling. The couples and children were fairing better then those without formal bonds. The animals were vastly annoyed, and Hermione sympathized.
The goblins were preparing what they could ahead of time. Lacking raw materials limited what they could do, but it didn't stop them. She really respected their ability to make due with so little. It might make all the difference.
"Are you well, Hermione?" Spock's voice broke through he worry filled mind as her eyes flew open.
"I am well enough." She sat up and turned to find Spock very near the cage. "Are you well?"
She caught the flash of irritation behind his eyes. He didn't want to answer her. That much was obvious. Spock was fascinating. His emotions roiled and fought against his control constantly. Quick glimpses were all he ever afforded her, and she doubted others saw that much.
"I am well." He responded evenly.
Hermione nodded, but she'd heard the lie.
"You are lying." Hermione shook her head. "Vulcans aren't supposed to lie."
"I did not lie." Spock examined the back of his hands carefully. "I am physically well. My body is operating within its normal parameters."
"That's splitting hairs." Hermione rolled her eyes and chuckled. "You've been avoiding me."
"Yes." Spock met her gaze with his own steady one. "I thought it best to consider my thoughts before bringing them to you."
"So, you thought it best to understand your own mind." Hermione nodded. "I suppose that is better than inundating me with emotional detritus."
"I am a Vulcan." Spock spoke evenly. "To inundate you with emotional detritus would be illogical and offensive."
"I have practiced the arts of the mind for many years." Hermione rolled her shoulders back and settled further into the pillows. "I understand the necessity for control. The magic I've done to save my people required all of my focus. It still does. When we are safe, I will allow myself to process my emotions. What will you do?"
"When this is over, I will resume my life." He frowned. "It isn't logical to do otherwise."
"Tell me about your life." Hermione smiled up at him. "Tell me anything."
Spock examined the woman reclined before him and felt something stir deep inside him. The brief flare dissipated and he complied with her request. He described things he'd seen and done. He answered her questions. Despite their differences, he found her conversation highly rewarding. Her insight and her willingness to share her thoughts was not invasive or disrespectful. She was one of the very few humans he'd met capable of understanding the dichotomy of the Vulcan path.
Luna stared off into the distance. She knew the new planet would suit them. She wasn't concerned about settling there, but the coming days were full of drama and indecision. There was nothing for it.
She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. She'd told the others what she could. To tell them more might change things.
Being in the cage was amplifying her sight. She knew probabilities that had become certain and possibilities spooled out before her in a wash of chaos.
She could feel the distant magic of the planet thrumming through her. She wasn't sure if it was a feeling that would soon be real or a true feeling. There were times when such things were impossible to tell apart.
The vision of Hermione standing at a cliff's edge watching an incoming storm was stable. Her hair caught in the wind, she stood alone. It was always the same vision. There was a desolation in it. Luna took a deep breath and tried to banish the vision, but then the unusual happened. A hand reached out and settled on Hermione's shoulder. She turned toward the hand with a smile and the vision gave way to a flood of others.
Luna blinked. She'd seen Hermione in most of them. She'd seen some of them before, but there was something more certain in them now.
"What do you see, Luna?" Harry sat down next to her.
"So many things." Luna smirked at him. "The possibilities are slimming. I'm seeing the same things again and again with little variation."
"Is that a good thing?" Harry frowned at her.
"We will have a home." Luna smiled. "It will be a good place. We will belong to it as it belongs to us."
"Nothings ever that simple." Harry examined her face carefully. "What am I going to hate about it all?"
"I think you'll hate that this falls on someone else's shoulders." The blonde witch grinned. "You like to do the world saving, but there's no chaos around you. There's some for me, a bit for Charlie down the line, but the brunt of it falls on Hermione and Narcissa. Things are going to depend on the choices they make."
"There is something else." Harry locked his bright green gaze on her.
"I think Hermione will be spending time off world sometime soon." Luna shrugged. "I've seen her in a large room with white walls and a window that shows the stars. I've also seen her on a mostly red and brown planet. Mostly, I see her at a cliff overlooking a vast sea."
"You think Hermione will leave us?" Harry looked amused. "She's not the type."
Spock settled his body and attempted to relax into his regular meditative state, but the usual familiarity of it was changed. Something inside him had awakened and it was not soothed by meditation. The flash of heat surfaced and Spock sprang up from his preferred meditative form to pace.
When he had escaped puberty without a flare, the Vulcan healers had surmised that he would not experience the fires. His father and mother had never agreed with that assessment, but he had accepted it. Pon Farr was a base thing, a remnant of the emotionally driven early Vulcans. It was a biological imperative. He'd been secretly pleased to be free of it.
Closing his eyes, Spock saw her reclined on the pillows at his feet with no cage between them. Her hair was canned out on the embroidered silk. Her lips were parted and glistening. He felt sweat slide on his skin, but he ignored it. He wanted to burn. He wanted her to burn with him.