It had been a long week…. Well almost week, 6 days since Michael had left the ship and Chris was glad to hear that she was due to return to the ship in two more days….with the baby. With that in mind, he had ordered the quartermasters to make the appropriate changes to his quarters….

Not that he expected Michael to suddenly move in or anything; but he wanted the option because the idea of a baby was not something he had generally considered for himself before her existence came rather forcefully into their lives. Certainly not on the Enterprise nor on Discovery since this wasn't a generational ship but he had accepted the fact that Admiral Cornwell's reasoning was sound.

Protection.

He could do that and… he knew that while biology wasn't in play in his side of things, there was a deep want to be there for this one. That….he could be her father. Logically, as he was otherwise her mother's mate, it was natural to think he would take that role and he had already stated as much to Michael. He had to do his part in looking after her and balancing his duties as a captain. He could do it.

Chris had already made arrangements of the appropriate crew who would be capable of babysitting in both their absences of their shifts; no doubt the productivity of the ship would go down when Misha wasn't in her crib so he could at least confined that to a single area of the ship. He'd have to make sure to keep her away from the bridge. That was hardly the place for someone so young…

Especially recently. Another signal had led them to Saru's homeworld…and everything that had followed had more or less screwed with the prime directive but… it gave them an angel sighting that showed them the power of it; of what it was. Humanoid in a metallic suit. Technologically made.

Chris was waiting at his desk in his ready room to see which Admiral would be chewing him out for that…

"Sir, A call from Admiral Cornwell's secure line is coming through."

As predicted. Chris inhaled deeply. "Send it through to my ready room."

Within a few moments, a hologram flickered in though he paused halfway up to see the still, flickering hologram was not Admiral Cornwell. Though it made his heart beat a little faster and he felt immediately lighter.

"Michael."

Michael's lips smiled, her arms tucked behind her and in very casual clothing which….he was not used to seeing. Though the lingering red spit-up on her shoulder was not hard to miss, it still made him smile a little more.

"I'm using the admiral's line by request since it's most secure." She stated, offering an apologetic look.

"It's fine. How is everything going?"

"Well. A few developments but I… wanted to call and ask for more leave. I think I have a lead on Spock."

Chris felt his shoulders straighten though it all suddenly made a little more sense. "Where?"

"Our parents. I believe they may know more than they're letting on. My mother. Especially."

Chris nodded. He knew Mrs Greyson had left Discovery quickly and had taken the opened file with her, it was logical to assume she may have been througher than they had since she knew Spock…more than he did.

"If Sarek knew, so would we so…if she's got to him, she'd hide him from him as well, on the assumption she actually has him."

"Section 31 nor Starfleet have him. I'd say that's good news for us." Michael reasoned. "I can take a shuttle from the facility and go to Vulcan from there."

Chris nodded, "We're still stationed at Kaminar, I take it you read the report."

Michael's head bobbed, her lips pressing into a light smile. "Indeed. Once I know what state's Spock's in, I'll find a way for us to contact Discovery. After that…" She trailed off but there was a hint of uncertainty.

Of course, once they had Spock… they had to find out the truth of his guilt and prove it to the rest of Starfleet.

"We'll get to that when he comes. For now, take the leave you need and hurry back."

Michael nodded. "Miss you."

Chris laughed, "Missed you too. Pike out."

Getting a glimpse of Michael's lingering smile before she was gone but the warmth of it stayed in his chest.


"Sir." His head turned as the familiar face of Ash Tyler hurried along. "I got word that…Detmer and Airiam are leaving the ship tomorrow."

Chris returned to his walking though nodded with a slight frown at him. He had no reason to dislike Specialist personally though he wasn't stupid of Leland's hooks that he was forced to have on the ship. He had made it damn impossible for them to put an operative on the enterprise and he has Una look through and vet everyone on the ship; the joint operation just meant everything was going to Leland's ear. While it may be frustrating for Tyler for just doing his job and to look on the darker side of things, he had to maintain his own stance to protect Spock and the ship.

"Yes, after our reading sweeps that our mystery angel left behind. Detmer booked off personal time and invited Airiam, something they're both entitled too, Specialist."

Tyler's steps matched his. "Is now really the time for that? We do need our best pilot for the ship in the whole situation."

"I understand your concern and it's noted, but we don't rely on a single helmsman for a reason. Lieutenant Gavin is an excellent pilot as well." Sure, he didn't have his licence quite as young but he was good nonetheless.

Tyler remained quiet for a long moment. "Who'll be stepping in Airiam's place in her absence?"

"Lieutenant Nilsson."

"Oh." His tone lightened, though not surprised. "Yeah, she's a good officer." The sudden shift of tone and the way he spoke gave Chris the hint that Tyler knew the officer well or to a friendly degree. "Have you heard from Commander Burnham yet?"

"She's on personal leave, Lieutenant Tyler." He reminded. "She'll be back when she's ready to return, taking care of a new born baby is no easy feat, even for a vampire." It did make him feel guilty that he couldn't help her now, looking after something small and demanding was not usually a one-person job in a relationship. "I take it you've guessed that the child is also returning in regards to roster changes I've arranged."

"Yes, I've also gone over the security systems with Commander Nhan and how they'd also affect her if activated."

"Security systems?"

"Gold alert systems that triggers the anti-vampire systems on the entire ship," Tyler spoke up. "We've improved them but to keep in mind that as the child's bones are made of the same stuff of a vampire's body, there's a chance this will cause pain and discomfort."

Chris stopped abruptly, almost having the section 31 officer walk into his shoulder, sidestepping last second and whipped around to face him swiftly. "Can you find a workaround?" The last thing he wanted was to cause pain to his daughter… If it froze up a vampire, what would it do to someone who was partially vampire?

Tyler's jaw flexed before he shrugged. "I can talk to Ensign Tilly. I heard she made improvements to protect the spores with new anti-harmonic jammers."

"The do so. I think we can both agree that we don't want to find out what happens to her if they go off."

Tyler nodded. "Of course."

"Then get to it."


"What is this?"

"These are the readings that are from a science vessel that was commissioned to the original bursts on the asteroid after we left. Very high levels of tachyons."

"Tachyons?" That certainly opened up a lot. From cloaking to the notion of time travel. Which…given what was on everyone's plate, they didn't need. It'd be just their luck it if it was time-travel related. Though he felt a flicker of annoyance that he hadn't been informed of a second-team being dispatched; as the lead ship in this whole investigation, he should have been informed.

"Which could indicate that the technology is…advanced, possibly not even invented yet given what I'm seeing!" Tilly spoke up, her voice filled with a bubbling amount of enthusiasm. "The amount of tachyons is five thousand parts per cubic micron, densities not seen outside of a supernova… like is like freaking amazing."

Chris turned to the Ensign at the monitor, "Then we need to figure out what we're dealing with. Tachyons can be a by-product of technology such as a transporter or cloaking technology but it's got a long history in time travel."

"If there are cloaks, I'll utilise the algorithm Discovery collected during the war" Connelly spoke up from his monitor.

"I'll set up a probe to gather up more assessments," Saru added

"Detmer, pull us in, one-quarter impulse. Let's hope its cloaks. Can't be dealing with time travel today…" Chris spoke, muttering the last bit as he sunk into the captain's chair, fingers coming to the panel before he heard the doors behind him open before he turned to see Stamets entering with Tyler, reviewing a PADD before the vampire moved to Tilly and engaged her into a quiet conversation though Pike's eyes returned to Tyler.

"Here's what we have so far." Tyler spoke, handing over a PADD, "Dr Culber and Reno are working on a prototype but it should be adequate."

Chris took the PADD, taking note of the schematics of what looked to be a tiny bracelet of sorts. Although he hoped it'd hold up against curious fingers. Babies, from what he knew, would pull anything attached to them.

"Thank you. I'll review it later."

Though suddenly, the ship shuddered and screens faltered and alarms suddenly blared. His attention moved away to the viewscreen; seeing a low bluish-light in the void of space that rippled like a water surface that coiled towards a plug though it grew

"Comms are offline," Bryce called out sharply

"Tactical too," added Rhys.

Chris pushed himself out his chair, tossing Tyler the PADD. "Talk to me, Owo."

"Captain, these readings…. They don't make any sense. The computer seems caught in…some sort of loop." Her fingers tapping along the screen, trying to regain control.

"Computers and technology don't do well inside temporal anomalies," Saru called out. His next sentence cut off sharply by Tilly's voice.

"Oh, what the frack!"

Head turned though his attention was the sudden ghostly image of himself at his captain's chair, somewhat similar to the ship's holographic communications. The anomaly version was reviewing the PADD, Tyler beside him…

"Detmer, full reverse." The ship shook though, within a few moments, they pulled away from the rift and the alarms died. "What exactly are we facing?"

"It's a space-time rift." Saru stated, "We can't launch the probe from this distance."

All around, the monitors flickered back to life, Owo confirming that the computers were back online. He made the mental note to not move the ship any closer

"Then move it into a shuttlecraft. I can pilot it closer to the anomaly and launch it from there." A shuttle could move much quicker and sleeker than a full starship could. Chris moved away from Owo's monitor towards the turbolift

"Sir." The Kelpien moved by a step, the argument rose though he held a hand up.

"Test pilot was my first assignment in Starfleet, I know Discovery's better than anyone else on-board," Minus Detmer, of course.

"But you're vital personnel, captain." Saru tried with a frown.

"I know but I'm also most qualified." He slipped into the turbolift though watched as the doors began to close.

"Sir," Stamets' suddenly appeared by his side, "I've been reading some of the scans and there's a chance that there could be a small fissure that could pull anything close or too close into the rift."

Chris flinched a little at his timely arrival. "I am aware of the risks."

"I know, which is why I'm suggesting to come with you."

"You?"

"As a vampire, I'm much more resilient to the effect of temporal distortions and due to my tardigrade DNA that's encoded into me, I can read through the distortions and if need be, navigate through them if it messes with our equipment." Stamets pointed out, "Plus, Burnham would probably rip my head off if something were to happen to you and I was just a bystander."

"…okay."


Michael stared ahead as the shuttle slowly lowered to the landing pad outside the residence, feeling a bundle of nerves that didn't translate as she moved to pick up her side bag and slung it over her shoulder before scooping up the sleeping new born and slipped her into the sling around her chest. Rain pattered across the shuttle though Michael watched the familiar patterns until the rain began to dissipate from the weather control systems before she darted towards the front doors and slipped inside.

Misha grunted in her sleep but her eyes remained closed. The familiar scents hung around, Sarek's Vulcan and Amanda's human one most predominant though there was another male Vulcan scent that hung around, faded and old but with the stale scent that hung around and what she remembered when they were younger. Amanda had been in contact with Spock within the last day.

Michael walked though, following the familiar thumps of the two mortals though from the calm beat, and steady breath, Sarek sounded like he was in a form of meditation. Amanda was watching close to him.

Amanda knew she was here though she didn't grab her attention until she placed her bag down and Misha grumbled. Blue eyes sharply coming straight to her then to the sling before they widened sharply.

"Michael…." She immediately came straight to her, eyes fixed on the newborn. "What's…"

"This…is my daughter. Misha. We found her over a week ago. She a human-vampire hybrid." Michael explained.

Amanda's face flushed and heat travelled though as emotions seemed to face through her fragile form. Her hands rose, a finger coming to peel back the edges of fabric. Misha grunted again, her head burying into her Vulcan shirt before she wiggled before eyes flickered open, her hand coming to her face before she caught the human scent and head turned towards Amanda before cooing.

Amanda gasped quietly as she saw the flash of teeth, though she didn't stop her from running a finger down her cheek, avoiding the baby's head tilt and minor attempt to catch her finger with her mouth before one of Misha's finger's wrapped around her index finger.

"How old?"

"Nine days, a Vulcan science officer created her secretly, we found her with one of the signals." Michael elaborated. "I've….decided to keep her." It was far from easy but…she had come to know the subtle tricks and hints that made it easier to gage her daughter's reactions and needs.

"I'm a grandmother." Amanda's voice quietened though she didn't feel any sort of displeasure from her, she was thrilled but the whole joy of the revelation was hampered by something else, nervousness, anxiety… "May I?" Her hands held out.

Michael's eyes flickered to the infant's face. "She bites, just be warned." It looked safe enough. Misha shouldn't be too hungry either so the risk was a little lower.

With a small adjustment, Michael slipped her out of the sling and into the warm arm that held out. Amanda adjusted herself and soon enough, the baby was sitting comfortably in her arms, though sniffed carefully at Amanda before smiling; clearly quite happy to be in the arms of something so warm and smelt liked food.

"Oh…" A soft sigh left her mother's lips, melting a little was all her attention went to the infant. "Hello, Misha…"

Michael turned her gaze from her mother to her father. Sarek was kneeling on his mat, eyes closed and looking to be almost in a deep trance state but it wasn't his traditional method of meditation.

"What is he doing?"

Amanda's head rose before exhaling out. "Tokmar. He's been like that for hours every day since he learned of Spock's disappearance."

There were subtle changes as Amanda spoke, her anxiety and her heart rate spiked a fraction, even how she held Misha was different, tenser.

Michael's head turned though she straightened up, resting her arms behind her in her usual stance. "Given he's still doing it, it's probably not working…. And you know why." Her ruby gaze not looking at her mother but the upbeat of Amanda's heart gave her away. "I can smell him on you, you've been in contact with him about 18 hours ago."

Amanda's breath held, "Damn…" She knew she was blown and knew she couldn't lie about it either though Michael didn't need more to guess that she didn't want to expose him.

"I need to see him, mother."

"No."

"The longer he's away without answers or the way to clear him, the consequences will be dire."

"I know, I can see the logic in that." Amanda's tone cooled.

"I know you're angry with me and I understand that now I have my own child, but I can protect him. He's still my brother and I do love him. I have to talk to him because he's imperative to help solve the red signals. We don't know what they mean but Spock might we're at a grounding point. ."

"What makes you think I will ever hand him over to Starfleet to be tried for a murder he didn't commit?"

"I never said I'd hand him over to Starfleet. Captain Pike intends to protect him…. And we have a teleporting starship so the odds would be in our favour to gather up data we need to clear him."

Amanda turned sharply, walking away from the doorway though Michael followed, picking up her bag as she went. Her free hand drifted from Misha's grip to touch at her arm, pulling her attention as they walked.

"He's…. Spock's not…how you remember him, Michael."