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Chapter 8

"Energize." A command given. An order issued. The lights of the Enterprise swirled and distorted, changing into something dark and damp, cold and hard. Horribly old concrete floors with outdated metal pipes gave the appearance of a sewer from hundreds of years ago. Water dripped from the ceiling, and collected in stagnant puddles on the floor. Both Vulcans shivered against the biting cold, uncomfortable even for a human. Age old graffiti adorned the walls in occasional patches, mostly worn off my water and age. Ms Spock checked the tracer for the direction of the dilithium crystals, and the two set off, never speaking, never looking at each other.

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Ms Spock's head jerked up, ears perked, catching something Sarek did not. He turned an inquisitive glance to the woman, whose entire body had gone still, tense, not moving a single muscle, barely even breathing. Only her eyes shifted suddenly, before she sprang forward with all the speed and grace of a panther, grabbing Sarek and hurling him to the side in a single motion, just before the rocks tumbled in right behind the two. Sarek was shocked by the woman's (he still had a hard time accepting that this was his daughter) touch. Vulcans were touch telepaths, and they had to erect shields to protect themselves because of it. Shields both prevented their own thoughts from being sensed by other Vulcans, and ensured that they did not receive unwelcome thoughts from the other. But no matter how good the shields were, Sarek had never encountered shields that completely kept their owners mind a secret. Until now. It was a completely disorienting experience. There were no thoughts or sense of being even to give the slightest hint that the combination of matter in front of him was an actual living person. She might as well have been a droid. The… blankness was completely foreign, and Sarek didn't know what to think of it. It was completely disorienting, and consequently, Sarek was completely confused. There was also the issue of how the hybrid had known the roof was going to collapse. She pushed up off of him, and he sat up, relatively unharmed, and stared.

"Your shields are quite impressive. I do not believe I have ever encountered their equal." She gave a nod of appreciation.

"The Sarek of my world impressed them upon me, along with many other things, such as styles of self defence. He wished for me to become independent. You see how well he succeeded." The blue science officer uniform practically screamed "REBEL!" They fell silent after that for a time, and continued walking.

"How did you come to the realization that the ceiling was compromised?"

"I heard it begin to fall."

"I heard no such thing."

"My senses are more highly attuned than yours. I was captured during one mission and used as an experiment. The results heightened my senses considerably."

"Why did the Commander Spock of this universe not undergo such an experiment?"

"My captor was seeking revenge for his daughter. He wished to accomplish this by sacrificing a female to Haltaka, the Cateron god of popcorn." Sarek blinked.

"Popcorn?"

"The man's daughter died choking on a piece of popcorn."

"I see." Sarek didn't see.

"I find it best to not try to understand such things. They are not logical, and are generally a waste of time to attempt to understand."

"I shall take your advice in the future." Ms Spock nodded. They continued on.

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With miles ahead, the pair had no time to rest. However, since they were both Vulcans, this did not prove a problem. They needed neither food nor water, rest nor sleep, at least not yet. They could continue the miles; they had to. They did not chatter as humans might; Vulcans had no need for such things, and the two had nothing to say to each other. They continued on, feet tapping against the hard floor, Spock's regulation heels (that even her male counterpart wore, look it up) and Sarek's ever practical normal ones, the sounds of both echoing off the closely proportioned walls. It happened when Spock was studying some cracks and holes in the wall, determining of their present path was safe. Sarek turned when he heard the click of claws. Perhaps Spock was to absorbed to hear it, but Sarek heard.

He froze, and was about to warn Spock that they were not alone, when a large hairy beast leapt from a hole in the roof, tackling him to the ground to reach Spock. She got her hands around it's neck almost instantly, but it's teeth still sank into her shoulder, it's teeth making short work of any bone it encountered. Spock gasped, and tried to get her feet under her to kick it off, but the thing's body was in the way. It was to heavy to roll off, and she couldn't move her left arm, as a result of the bite. She also didn't think the nerve pinch would work on a creature like this, it's anatomy was to different. The thing reared it's head back up, and went in for the kill, sensing its prey was wounded. Spock was pretty sure there was nothing she could do. Then Sarek grabbed the thing by the scruff of the neck, and threw it into the cave wall, hard enough to crack it's neck. Spock struggled to sit up, however Sarek put an end to that.

"You are too injured to attempt such a motion at the moment." Spock lay back down.

"We cannot stay here. I must continue."

"Affirmative, however it would be best to first bandage your wound. You will do us no good if you bleed out before we reach our destination."

"I am unsure of how long it will take to reach our destination. We may not have time for…"

"That is uncertain, and your blood will only attract more predators." Sarek took a bandage from the med kit they had with them, one of the two things they had aside from the ecohydronic compressor they had taken from an old dusty closet deep in the forgotten bowls of engineering. He began to wrap the wound as Spock looked away.

"You are correct. I am unsure as to why I did not realize that earlier."

"It is probable that there was some amount of venom in the creature's fangs. If this is so, we must move faster than before." Sarek finished wrapping the wound. "The creature would not be so near here if the area was unstable as we were investigating into. It is safe to continue forward." Spock nodded, and moved onward, stumbling, but righting herself, always going forward, because really, they had no choice.