HI! HOW'S IT GOING?
I still don't know how I'm going to deal with the newer movies and the input of discovery but I definitely want this story to cross several Star Trek series. I love deep story telling with a broad world view SO I WILL DO THAT.
I'm sorry if you haven't seen some of the things I will mention but anything that exits the 2009 AT movies will be noted and cited with the series and episode/specific material.
Let's goooooo~
"Before we get started, how are you feeling Dr. Kholer?" Jim asked.
It took her a moment to answer, distracted by looking around the cabin quarters. It was lovely and once more she could look out into the vastness of space. Mutely she roamed over to the couch under the window. She let her bag fall to the floor and heaved a sighed.
"Captain Kirk," she said, slowly testing the words on her tongue "I'm doing ok, physically. Thank you for the medical treatment, I've never went into shock like that before." Her words came out hushed and timid. It seemed she was certainly stuck on board the starship, so in an attempt of cooperation she turned to face the two men questioning her.
"Can I bother you for a cup of tea?" She asked meekly, needing something soothing or warm. Just something to do with her hands or to occupy even the littlest bit of her mind. Thankfully the captain gave her a small smile and stepped into a small offshoot of a kitchen and returned immediately with a cup of black tea.
Her brow stitched together and she looked over to the kitchen. "How did you manage that?" There wasn't even a tea bag or kettle or ….
"Dr. Kholer," Spock started as he put himself onto the ottoman across from her. "We are willing to answer your questions but could you answer ours first? We must assess the issues at hand."
Trinity just nodded, starring into the mug of tea. The critical, sterile gaze of the man across from her was a sharp contrast to the hot vapor rising from the tea. After a deep breath and long drag of the Earl Gray she made eye contact. Every time she looked at him and what he specifically wasn't made that small iota of panic in her stomach a little larger. This calm numbness was merely the other half of that coin.
"Issues indeed … Again, my name is Dr. Trinity Kholer, I'm a theoretical astro-particle physicist. I was at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland for a research project. I was on a private tour and then here I was. I'm an American, 29 years old, born November 19th, 1990."
Spock's eyebrow rose up. At first he thought maybe they had only experienced a spatial anomaly but it was in fact a temporal one. Jim coughed out of surprise and rubbed his face. "Ugh, again with the time travel? Spock, is there any chance this is connected to the Romulan incident?" Spock didn't know. He spared Jim a glance but didn't answer.
Trinity was taken back, suddenly miffed at the Captain's off handedness about something that was gravely serious to her. "Surely there has to be a better explanation?" Jim looked at her, indignation smattered across his face. "Do you have a better explanation Dr. Kholer? All humans know about Vulcans." Jim gestured to Spock and she turned back to the Commander.
He really was different. Sure she had seen people with dermal mods and surgical alterations but this seemed too natural. "Your ears …" Trinity leaned over to get a better look at them and Spock obligingly tilted his head. Most children had the same reaction she did, trying to observe his physical differences. Typical humans. One of the most inquisitive of intellectual species, he thought but annoyingly so.
"Yes, Doctor, I am half Vulcan. You seem jettisoned here from the year 2019 for reasons and via methods we cannot discern." Trinity took a long drink from the tea and then practically dropped the empty mug onto the end table. That thump push her mind closer to facing the fact that she was undeniably in the future. But where? Or when?
"Commander … Spock?" It sounded more like the question of a child. "When am I?"
Suddenly her stomach was deciding to act up again and she took a deep breath, steeling herself. One hand bunched into the hem of her shirt, the other firmly pressed into the cushion. Trinity almost felt her stomach drop like when she was thrown threw. "Dr. Kholer, it is currently 2258 by Earth standards." Yep. That did it. The iota finally grew into something tangible. Too exhausted to sob, tears started trickling down her face. This made both men uncomfortable but thankfully they had enough tact to let her be.
"Unfortunately, I am needed back on the bridge." Jim, an expert at escaping the tears of women, clapped Spock in the shoulder. "Dr. Kholer our First Officer here is at your disposal for the rest of his shift should you need him. And … I'm sorry, we'll work on figuring something out for your situation." Spock knew that his commanding officer was being quite the weasel but it was important for Jim to return the bridge as well. With that Spock accepted his new role as the babysitter.
"So." Trinity leaned back into the couch and stared at Spock openly. "The basics would help … I think. Of how stuff works around here." Her tears kept coming alongside her weak voice but Spock recognized the brave face she put on.
"May I share something with you Dr. Kholer? Humans, in my experience take comfort in shared feelings of grief." Trinity raised both of her eyebrows up at him with a perplexed look.
"Of course Commander. Misery loves company."
Spock steeled himself in the effort of sharing Vulcan's demise with her. "I have also lost my home recently. Several months ago, the entirety of my home planet was destroyed in an act of revenge."
"Your entire planet?" Trinity felt her gut wrench. Regardless of how she had gotten here, there was some peace in knowing that her entire planet and family made it through time. That was something she had the luxury of knowing, so his loss far outweighed anything she could imagine.
Without much thought she reached out and laid her fingers on his forearm. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Commander. I promise not to impose on your crew and I'll make myself scarce." Spock almost cringed when her hand touched his arm but he found the act common among humans and at least he was shielded by his shirt.
"Thank you." In her view he seemed unfazed by the action and she immediately dropped her hand. "A trace amount of Vulcans live and are looking for a new colony. "
"Commander Spock," she went on, hoping that this line of rational would strike home a little better, "I know sharing that with a complete stranger is not easy and I'm extremely grateful. I'm also really sorry for staring earlier. I know I wasn't in my right mind but still that was uncalled for."
He watched as her face contorted almost painfully into a bashful, guilt ridden grin. Strangely, that gesture did make him feel a little better since she was obviously in no place to try and comfort him. He nodded at her in response and stood up. Idle chatting wasn't going to make either of them feel better.
"Dr. Kholer," and before he could continue, "Please call me Trinity. Not many people call me Dr. Kholer since I don't teach. I'm also pretty sure that my education is now useless."
Spock just looked at her, "As I was saying Dr. Kholer, allow me to show you the basic functions of your quarters." He pointedly ignored the latter half of her comment. This made her feel relatively sheepish, kicking herself. Was she really trying to make friends with him? Now? She didn't necessarily have issues making friends but she was known to be odd. Trinity just wasn't all there mentally given the earlier events so maybe she would be better served shutting up. It took her another second to drag herself out of her head before she processed his words.
"My quarters?" Obviously she needed somewhere to stay and sleep but this was too much. Before she could protest and as if he could read her mind, "It is best if you stayed in here. Our ship is en route to Earth and at this time this section is empty due to the lack of diplomatic personnel onboard. There are no crew members in this subsection." There were also no labs or comm panels either due to the section being reserved for guests which meant there was no chance of an accident.
"I have to ask that you do not leave your quarters until the captain and I can make appropriate accommodations for you." Trinity was let down by that. She wanted to see everything on the ship. Maybe not now but how could she not be curious.
Spock showed her the replicator, explaining its basic functions, and she immediately forgot her worries, impressed. "It can make anything?"
"Almost anything. The replicator is limited but many crew members will tailor their personal ship documentation to include homemade foods or change ratios. Humans are the predominant species onboard and thus the selections from Earth are the most numerable."
To her that was amazing. She had so many technical questions about it but the first thing that came out of her sudden childlike, five-year-old mouth was "I want to try a Vulcan food."
Could his eyebrow go up anymore today? Could it get any closer to his hairline? On top of that his chin titled up out of instinct to look at his inquisitively. What an odd woman with such odd priorities. Still, it was an easy question and better than talking about loosing your entire universe or the death of a billion people.
"Dr. Kholer it is my dinner time soon. Would you like to join me? Though we will have to stay within your quarters." What? Her head tipped over like a dog, a puzzled look on her face. She just hadn't seen that coming. "Are you sure Commander? I don't want to impose and cause trouble."
Why did humans insist on refuting things? It is one of their most annoying habits, he thought.
"Yes, Doctor, I am sure." He explained needing to step out for an hour to check on some projects and priors but would be back for their meal. He also just wanted to give her a moment alone.
Trinity watched the door slide close and suddenly felt just how alone she was. There was an immediate impact in her head. A hole, writhing, angry, empty looking for anything familiar. She fell to her knees sobbing, gasping, and sputtering. There was so much grief eating her alive, but no coherent thoughts. Her fists slammed into the floor, biting back a scream. The pain was deep, fresh, and sharp and all she could do was wail.
Forty some minutes passed before she could catch her breath. Mind still numb she stumbled weakly into the bathroom, grateful for something normal like the shower stall. The scalding water stung against her knuckles as the rest of her crumpled to the bottom of the stall. Trinity just continued sobbing. The water in her eyes would normally be irritating but she hadn't really noticed. Her ears rang with her inability to breathe properly. The heat of the water and lack of regular breathing caused her head to fade and in and out to the point she hadn't heard the knocking on the quarter door or the Vulcan man calling out her name.
The water stopped and that startled her enough but to add onto the panic was a dark figure on the opposite side of the frosted glass.
"Dr. Kholer, are you alright? If you can't respond I'll have to act in a medical capacity." Spock wasn't necessarily worried as this was a typical reaction to trauma but to see her blurred figured crumpled on the shower floor had caused him to contemplate if he seemed just as dejected months ago. The heat in the room also gave him reason to suspect she was light headed or had maybe even fainted. Spock stopped the water flow via the outside shower panel and his worry evaporated when she startled on the other side.
Trinity steadied herself on her knees and was catching her breath in gasps. "I'm okay! I just need a moment." Spock responded with "Of course." Before exiting the bathroom he noted her clothes piled on the floor near the shower door and noted the lack of fresh clothing and towels. Spock used the door that connected to the bathroom. Within the room was one of the newly developed fabric synthesizers. Using it he procured some towels and dropped them on the bed. Afterwards he jotted down simple instructions to using it for clothes.
"Dr. Kholer, I have left you some provisions on the bed, please take your time and I shall handle our dinner." Spock didn't wait for a response and exited into the common room. He went over to the food replicator.
Trinity wobbled out of the shower and stared at the open door she hadn't noticed earlier. Dripping, she was grateful to the commander to find fresh and vaguely warm towels on the bed. She wrapped herself up and saw the small note. What was a clothing replicator? Staring at the wall she noticed the wall inlet that she would normally have mistaken for a shelf. "Computer … ?" She said weakly. She jumped a little when the air responded with a generic greeting. With that she managed to replicate underwear, a black sweater, and black leggings. All of this she found shocking because the quality of the clothes was superb and a lot nicer than her old workout clothes. Hastily she scrubbed the water out of her hair and made her way to dinner.
At the dining table adjacent to the kitchenette was Spock scrolling through a tablet, the table set for two with food that vaguely smelled like curry. She sat down and stared at the commander, waiting for him to finish whatever it was. Eventually he made a point to explain the device he was holding was a PADD. Trinity had so many questions about everything but anything she could say felt so heavy in her mouth. Eventually Spock started eating and Trinity followed in suit.
Their dinner was silent, but comfortably so. Spock noted that sometimes she would stop eating and dab at her eyes with her sleeve or stare directly into the lighting element. She was trying to hold back more sobbing. He commended her self-control silently. "I'm sure you will feel exhausted tonight, but if it will help you there are standard guest PADDs in the bedroom drawers if you feel like reading or maybe occupying your thoughts."
Trinity was a bit shocked to hear him offer this to her. Maybe he could sense just how much she wanted to know about this world and this ship. Her eyes were red and starting to swell but she smiled brightly. "I'm very glad to hear that Commander Spock." It was going to be a painful and lonely night, but maybe not a hopeless or wasteful one. Normally she made a point to express her gratitude but here she felt like maybe he already knew.
It is what it is I just wanted to get it up. TOS didn't have replicators the way we think of them from DS9, TNG, or VOY. So there will be a mixture of kitchen and replication, replicators/synthesizers for industrial/clothing needs where the ensigns and lower crew rotate to do menial chores and what not blah blah blah. I've been writing spicy scenes too. My motivation here is to get to there because oooooooooooo ... spicy.
Short chapter. Oh well my bad.
yeet yeet y'all