Welcome back! And thank you for your enthusiastic reviews so far!
This is the aforementioned shore leave. Will there be even more mishaps and misunderstandings? Read to find out!
As they left for shore leave the next morning, Christine entertained the possibility of it all having been a strange dream. It didn't quite qualify as a nightmare, but the absurdity of what she remembered made it almost unbelievable. Almost. Not even she could come up with such an elaborate dream. And the look Spock shot her as they all took their spots on the transporter platform reflected their nightly conversation.
"Are you alright?" he seemed to ask, and she nodded back. As confusing and overwhelming as their situation was, she was struck by the thought that strictly speaking, nothing had happened.
After they had deposited their luggage in their suite – a comfortable living room with one bedroom attached to each side – the four officers left for an official tour around the city.
Even though they were on leave, they were already fulfilling their representative function for the upcoming conference. Leonard had joked that a Starfleet officer was never truly on leave because they still had to stand for a certain ideal and way of life, representing Starfleet and the Federation's ethics everywhere they went.
They had sent their data ahead, and a high-ranking ambassador would guide them through the city, a semi-official event that would boost the image of Starfleet and this planet's government equally.
As McCoy, Christine, Kirk, and Spock followed this ambassador through the old town, listening intently to his re-telling of local ancient history, Spock threw a glance at Christine walking next to him. She seemed unperturbed by recent history. But why would she? They had agreed to handle this together, after all. Part of him had wondered if she would try to avoid him. She didn't appear to be uncomfortable around him at all, though, as she came to a halt next to him and flashed him a quick smile.
They had stopped in front of an old temple, its stonework carved with intricate designs that their guide said were more than a millennium old. The flowers that adorned the entrance and the steps and the groups of people walking in and out seemed to indicate it was still being used.
"This is our oldest temple still in use," said their guide, corroborating their guess. "It was erected for the worship of family and lovers, and as such we still use it today."
He led them towards the entrance, but just as they thought he was leading them in, he stopped again and turned around to them with an apologetic shrug.
"The inside is said to be marvellous. But I regret to say that I cannot allow the four of you to enter. I am not allowed as well. This temple must not be entered by anyone apart from the priestesses and lawful couples." He glanced down at his handheld computer interface, and just as Kirk was about to remark that they respected the local customs and would not enter, he looked up again. "That means you and your wife may go inside, Captain Spock."
They had kept their unexpected news a secret, and had silently agreed to keep it that way until they had made some progress one way or another. Right now, Christine was sending Spock a pleading look, answered only by a helpless shrug.
Jim's voice broke through the silence before it could become awkward. "Go on, you two. You can tell us how it was," he said and motioned for them to just go with what he must have thought was a coincidental mistake in their information.
"I'm never gonna let him live this down," murmured Leonard out of earshot of their guide, as Spock and Christine walked up the steps.
"Don't be too hard on him," Jim admonished but grinned back.
"Come on, it's pretty funny. Admit it."
"It is funny. Out of all the people that such a mix-up could have hit."
Within the temple, Christine followed Spock through a cool marble hall, immersed in green light streaming through the tinted windows.
"I can't believe Leonard and the Captain don't suspect anything," she whispered as they stood to the side to gaze at a painted statue of a saint.
"From their perspective, a simple mistake in the transferred data is the most likely explanation."
"Of course, but they don't always arrive at the most likely explanation. Sometimes the unlikely ones are the most compelling."
"Indeed."
Spock turned to go and walked towards a marble basin some feet away, Christine next to him.
"This looks like a baptismal font," she said.
The water inside was sparkling greenly against the white stone. As she laid her hands on the railing, she noticed that her skin was also affected by the coloured light in here.
"Look, Spock!" she whispered up at him. "I'm green. Like a Vulcan."
He regarded her with a hint of amusement.
"Barely. I am not that green."
"At least not in colour." She waited but he didn't seem to recognise her attempt at humour. "As long as I don't look like the Wicked Witch of the West," she added.
"I'm sure you don't."
Christine could feel some confusion radiating from him, as he answered, but was left to wonder if he knew what she was talking about when a priestess joined them at the basin.
"Welcome to the temple," she said. "I see you have found the holy basin of the betrothed. It is customary to be blessed by a priestess when visiting the temple."
Spock and Christine shared a look of quiet acceptance. Who were they to contradict local customs? They nodded at the priestess to continue and the young woman gestured at them to take each other by the hand and hold them over the water.
Christine smirked at Spock from the other side of the basin as they followed the instructions. Her hands felt soft and steady in his, and he could sense that she was highly amused at the whole situation.
The priestess stepped to the basin and raised a jug of water over their intertwined hands. She murmured something that the universal translator could barely pick up. Some snippets about an 'inseparable union', 'long life and companionship', and 'lasting happiness' reached their ears before the priestess poured the water over their hands.
Bowing slightly to them, she left as quietly as she had come, and the two of them were left alone.
"Do you want to go down with me?"
"Huh?" Christine turned to Spock who had walked some steps away.
"The crypt." He pointed to the stairs. "Do you want to go down with me or stay here?"
"Oh, I'll come."
The crypt was cool and had a slightly wet smell to it. Caskets, coffins, and urns were lining the walls.
"I wonder what it is with humanoid species storing their dead bodies in boxes."
She half expected Spock to give her a historical account, but he didn't seem to have an answer and continued to walk with her along the rows of dead in silence.
"On Vulcan, we store even our souls," he said after a while.
"Your souls?"
"Yes, after a Vulcan's death, their immortal soul, their katra, is deposited in the Hall of Ancient Thought on Mount Seleya, in a special ritual."
Christine resisted the urge to note that that meant there were more dead Vulcans on their planet than live ones, waiting for Spock to continue instead.
"Of course, when I was dead, I merely passed through the hall."
"You…passed through?"
"My katra-less body was carried through by the priestesses, and my katra was carried by McCoy. On the other side, my body and soul were reunited in the ancient fal-tor-pan ceremony," he explained matter-of-factly.
She stopped in her tracks, taking all that information in.
Spock stopped, too, and turned around to wait.
"You must have heard what happened."
"Yes, I read the reports, and Leonard told me most of it, but it's just something else to hear you say 'when I was dead'."
"Does it disturb you?"
"No, it's just very unusual," she said while walking on. In truth, him referring to his death had made her shudder at the thought and the fact that they were surrounded by corpses did not help.
"Shall we go up again?" he asked.
They had reached the end of the hall and the exit to the main hall above.
They finished their exploration of the temple mostly in a companionate silence, stopping here and there to look at the artefacts lining the walls.
When they stepped outside again, the bright daylight blinded them and they could barely see the three people waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.
Spock told their friends what they had seen as they followed the guide through the city. Jim and Leonard exchanged a cheeky grin as he told them about the blessing at the basin, unnoticed by the Vulcan who had continued his monologue about the temple's artefacts and general architecture.
To be continued...
And bureaucracy strikes again. If Leonard and Jim only knew... Hope you liked it, feel free to tell me if you did!