A knocking on her cabin door pulled Nyla from the deep recesses of sleep. She woke with a smile on her face and a contented tune on her lips.
"Come in," she called.
"Oi, lass, I've been messaging you for the past half hour. You're not even dressed!" Scotty glanced down at the bundle in his arms and muttered an, "Oh."
He draped the dress Nyla had requested with the Research and Development team hours earlier. She glanced up at him with newfound energy fueling away through her tank. "Hurry up, then. Roy was still in the shower when I stopped by there and the captain was trying to jam his big foot into a boot."
"I can be ready in five minutes," Nyla assured, patting his hand and dancing in to the bathroom.
The nerves for this mission had been carried away with the sweet clouds of sleep. A thrilling anxiety was left in its place and had Nyla changing so fast she nearly forgot underwear. A few handfuls of bobby pins convinced her voluminous hair to stay in its loose bun, though a few stray curls still escaped and tickled her face. She considered forgoing the glasses, but then decided the heels were risky enough without attempting the feat blind.
Scotty was braced against her doorway when she exited, chatting up Sulu who wandered around in his pajamas of dinosaur pants and a floral top even though he would be Acting Captain in mere minutes. Scotty glanced at his watch, nodding approval. Meanwhile Sulu's jaw dropped much like his ass would at some of the dance parties Nyla hosted in her office when her work hours ended.
"Who the hell did you let in Harlow's room?" Sulu demanded, knowing damn well who those hips belonged to.
"Think I'll blend in?" Nyla gave the men a little spin, though Scotty seemed more interested in a loose screw on his communicator.
"Blending was the goal? You're too gorgeous to do that." Sulu barked at a pair of new recruits who stopped to gawk.
"Not every day I get to break dress code regulations." Nyla smiled, skipping over to kiss his cheek goodbye.
Sulu grumbled something about staying safe and gave her a gentle push towards the impatient engineer. Scotty took her wrist, hauling her down the hallway to the transporter room. Spock and Uhura already waited, standing exceptionally close and speaking so softly Nyla wondered if they were or if they were actually just melding minds. Scotty melted behind his control panel, relaxing once he was surrounded by the familiar hum of machinery and flashing of lights.
"I feel overdressed," Nyla said as she strolled in.
Uhura's dress was slinky but simple and fell over her slim body like a waterfall might caress the rocks below. The silver hue made her skin shine, though maybe it was just the intense overhead lighting that would have them hurtling to the planet below shortly. Spock could have passed for a Knight in his conglomeration of form-fitting armor.
"Well you look underdressed. Where is the rest of that outfit?" Bones' voice pitched up as his eyes made one fell sweep over Nyla's body, settling with burning clarity on her played up eyes. Nyla ran her hands over the silk folds, grasping the metal belt that wrapped around her waist and bouncing up on her toes in amusement at the baffled man. He shifted to readjust his own attire as he joined the landing party in the waiting area.
"I requested it this way. If I'm being forced into the field, I'm making the most of it," she said, giving a twirl for him. A silver collar held the top aloft, matching ornamentation decorating the belt at her waist. The pale purple material fell across her chest, leaving her sides bare to her hips and swooped up to collect between her shoulder blades. The amount of skin exposed was on par with the amount of dress present and Nyla had never felt more like a woman. Her Star Fleet uniform made her feel powerful, accomplished, sure; but this, this was the stuff goddesses strolled through Olympus wearing.
"Ny…Doctor, the amount of injuries you're exposing yourself to is phenomenal. You're like a sheared sheep. Your entire torso is open, Christ." He was jabbering, eyes struggling to stay on her face, obviously mesmerized. His cheeks were rosy, his tongue kept flicking out over his lips, and his hands fidgeted at his sides.
"I don't plan on provoking any violence, do you, Doctor?" Nyla asked sweetly.
"Sheep?" Uhura asked, crossing her arms in amusement.
Before Bones got another flustered word out, Kirk strolled in to join them. "Nice cape Bones. Doctor Harlow, damn. Just damn. That's been hiding under your uniform all this time?" Kirk eyed her appreciatively.
Bones shifted on his feet to block his captain's line of sight and crossed his arms. "You look like a Prince, sir," Nyla replied cheerfully. All eyes on her meant a contented warmth in her veins.
"Damned R&D wouldn't let me request something else." Kirk tugged at his closely tailored vest, his billowy sleeves sweeping vigorously at the motion. His trousers hugged his legs and tucked neatly away into tall black boots. The whole ensemble did truly make him resemble someone who belonged in a storybook gallivanting through a forest on horseback, saving a fair maiden. Speaking of his maiden—Yasmine strutted in next, a powder blue dress swirling around her bronze skin. She was the last to arrive and with their earpieces from engineering.
"I think you look very pretty, Captain," she told Kirk, having caught the tail end of his complaints. She handed each their earpiece and went to go stand by Scotty at the transporter control panel for a few parting words.
Kirk grumbled out a thanks and went to go stand by Bones while Nyla followed Yasmine over to the console. She leaned across the board, chin propped in her hands. "Can I ask you something?"
"I don't do personal outside of your office. Other than that, shoot," Yasmine tapped the screen and waved for Scotty to finish setting their coordinates while she addressed Nyla.
"I just wanted to know if you had any advice for me. You're the best ground operative I've ever observed and I would really like to not fail on my first mission."
Yasmine's mouth quirked up and she too leaned forward, entering Nyla's careful bubble space. "Don't fuck it up." Yasmine patted Nyla's cheek and hiked up her dress to claim the first spot on the transporter pad.
Spock followed after her, offering his arm. "As romantic distraction would be highly probable were I to escort Lieutenant Uhura, perhaps it best we accompany each other," he said.
Kirk shrugged and gestured for Uhura to precede him on walking up the steps. Nyla drew an unsteady breath, convincing herself that this was just another day at work, that this was more of a field trip than a rescue mission, working on her feet instead of a life or death scenario. Bones' elbow drew her back to reality. It was extended in a formal manner, his dark cape adding a dramatic flair to the silk midnight blue shirt and straight legged trousers he wore beneath it. Dark brown eyes stared down at her in assurance. Bones, with a list of fears as long as his list of ready and waiting metaphors, was trying to comfort her. And she gratefully accepted, setting her hand in the crook of her elbow, letting him guide her onto the platform.
The one time she had been beamed onsite was to escort Bones and Nurse Chapel with an emergency medical supply run on a planet that had more mud than medicine. This time, the environment they entered would be hostile and uninviting and the only plan they had was a naive hope that everything would avoid going to hell.
The world vanished, transforming into nothing but a multitude of pixels flashing before her eyes too fast for her to decipher one color from the next. And then she blinked and they were standing in a little alcove outside of a grand ballroom. Low lying palm trees hid their abrupt appearance and nearly tripped Nyla with their roots.
"You remember our tickets?" Kirk asked Yasmine.
"Of course," she grumbled, pulling out the seamless forgeries she and Scotty had spent the better part of the afternoon making.
"I had to remind her," Uhura input.
"Shaddup," Yasmine grumbled. "But, yeah. Thanks."
She gave Spock a jerk, urging their pair to take the lead. Kirk nodded for Nyla and Bones to fall in line next and the captain and Uhura held up the rear. Nyla felt like a kid on her first day of high school. Would all the older, more experienced kids like her? Would she find a date for Prom? Fail that algebra test? Granted, she already had a date for the evening and anything involving numbers too easy for her to bother worrying over. And she was fairly certain her companions would not be giving her wedgies or stealing her lunch money any time soon. So, nothing like high school in reality. Except that every time Bones accidently shifted so that his side bumped into hers, her heart gave a savage kind of jerk, a betrayal to all her earlier denials.
"Like it?" Bones leaned down to whisper far too close to her ear.
"What?" She tensed, just knowing the thundering going on in her chest had given her away.
"The party?" Bones inclined his head inward, brow furrowed at her jumpiness.
Gleaming chandeliers covered every inch of the glass ceiling, interlaced with ribbons that seemed to be made of diamonds. Nyla was pulled through the door almost before Yasmine could get their tickets approved. The Lieutenant grasped her friend's elbow, holding her back to give an alluring smile to the doorman before they were waved through. Nyla thought she might cry or drool or kiss Kirk for dragging her along on this mission. Fearsome were these people, but for every enemy they conquered, they indulged themselves in just as many luxuries. Walls were painted gold, or maybe they were carved from the precious metal, she would not put it past them. The floor swam with lavish marble, the veins of it shimmering as if the walls as melted and now ran through them. Dresses woven straight from silkworms swirled together on the floor creating a dizzying array that reminded Nyla of a hypnotist's wheel. Truly, she was intoxicated on the scene. This humanoid race laughed and danced and sang without a tension to speak of in the air.
Yasmine sniffed and unceremoniously steered Spock over towards the dessert table. No doubt she would employ her rougher technique of enticing information from those who dared venture towards the chocolate cake tonight. Kirk rubbed the back of his neck and nodded towards the dance floor.
Uhura let out a short laugh. "Can't have three left feet between the two of us, sir," she said.
"Oh thank god. We can…uh mingle. These people do mingle, right?" Kirk directed the last question to Nyla who was staring at an emerald gown as if she might snatch it straight off the owner's body.
Bones nudged his partner and she shook herself, blinking free of her fantasies. "Hu?" she murmured, gazing up at him, caught in a whole new trance. Surely it was the setting lending itself to enhance his beauty. He had not always been this striking, she told herself. Or had she just refused to acknowledge it?
"Doctor," Uhura interrupted. "The Captain wishes to know if he can avoid dancing by casually chatting with the natives. Perhaps we might gain the location of the missing Max Whitney if we are very lucky."
"Yeah, sure. They seem tempered enough with good wine in their bellies. Maybe don't try any cheesy jokes," Nyla supplied.
"My jokes aren't cheesy," Kirk complained as Uhura dragged him off into the crowd of people.
"Well, Doctor." Bones fluffed his cape out behind him dramatically as he bowed before her.
Nyla gave her skirts a little twirl in response. "Yes, Doctor?" she asked, unsure which shinned brighter tonight—him or the stars' unforgiving light above.
"Want to do some recon on the dance floor?" he inquired.
"You can dance?" She felt her pulse flutter at the idea of his hand on her waist, of his body so close. Goddammit, just because they were off ship did not give her leeway to think of him like that. There was no expressly written rule forbidding coworkers from intermingling physically or emotionally. But Nyla was not willing to risk their immaculate working relationship for childish fancies.
"Name me a proper southern gentleman who can't." Bones held out his hand in an offering. A silent repetition of the coffee question this morning. Had that really been only hours ago?
Being in the center of the action really would help her read these people better. And what better way to accustomed oneself with a culture than by learning their dance? These along with a whole textbook of convincing words ended up with her hand place in his and the both of them being carried out to sea on the waves of the dancers twirling around them. Soon, Bones did place his hand on her waist and it burned like she feared it would and they too were loose in the ocean.
Yasmine had been a bit miffed when Kirk asked her about the tickets, especially after she was the one to tell him she'd also be stashing a small phaser in the folds of her dress. History favored the prepared and she didn't wanna go down in the books as dead at a ball, even in so fabulous a gown.
The cape swathing down her arms was more regal than anything she'd let touch her body before, even for that one meeting with royal dignitaries. With no tailoring the azure fabric fell past her waist and straight to the floor, skimming lightly at the concoction of shoes she'd been handed. The ensemble was unornamented and just what she was looking for, as she let the bit of sparkle come from pins in her intricate braid.
Spock had surprisingly complied to try an array of the extravagant desserts as the two people-watched from the sidelines, nodding to partygoers here and there as he used the few phrases of the native language Uhura had taught him.
"And so what happens when I'm asked a question?" she whispered to his metal-plated back at a lull in the traffic.
"If you do not wish to speak, simply nod your head. This species is fluent in English but recognizes it as a foreigner's language."
Yasmine then set her face into stone, hoping that it would ward off potential chats as she studied the room for the best place for clues to the missing captain. Instead her gaze fell on her own captain as he and Uhura milled about the room engaged in full conversation with everyone they could find.
She hadn't missed the way his eyes had momentarily blown wide when he first saw her in the dress or the proud smirk when she stuck a toned calf through the small slit to make sure they all whisked inside the ball easily. He made for a lovely prince indeed, golden crown of hair still standing out among the luxury of the crowd, and she had to tear her gaze away from his alluring form. The only thing she did miss was the proximity; it felt a little dangerous to be this far separated from anyone in the landing party with all the potential hostiles strewn between.
All at once her heart gave a hiccup and panic consumed her about some potentially poisonous dessert she'd eaten until she realized the startle came from Spock's elbow neatly knocking into her own.
"Lieutenant, I believe Doctors McCoy and Harlow are trying to obtain our attention."
Sure enough, Nyla was waving as subtly as possibly as she and McCoy maneuvered their way to the sidelines, her face slightly flushed in the wake of an apparently thrilling dance. Uhura had noticed and followed with Kirk in tow, and all at once they had a safe circle again.
"The good doctor and I have diddly squat on this Whitney guy," McCoy grumbled.
"And even in the most casual dialect," Uhura piped up, "it's not the best idea to ask where they keep their prisoners."
Stalemate. The lack of progress had an itch crawling around Yasmine's skin and little sparkling details of the ballroom came into focus as she swept her gaze back and forth, hoping anything helpful could be scraped from the golden walls. When nothing came of it, she gave an indignant flap of her cape.
Keeping his voice decidedly quiet, Spock said, "Captain, our best course of action most likely lies in searching the castle itself uninvited, and that would involve hoping the Drususians wouldn't discover the search party."
Kirk had been glancing around, most likely coming to the same conclusion, and he clapped Spock's shoulder. "Sounds good, Spock, but that should wait until I get a sip of something useful." He made immediate headway for the large bowl of punch in a far corner, a smirk leveled at his favorite lieutenant as he passed.
"God yes count me in!" Nyla followed quickly after him and the Yasmine smiled. The doctor was taking a page from her own first undercover mission, counting on alcohol to take the edge off.
"I'll volunteer for the search party, not all of us should go anyway." Yasmine resolutely tugged a flyaway back into place.
Uhura linked their arms with a warm smile. "I'll join her. Ladies take the east wing."
The pair turned to scope out their best exit from the festivities just in time to see Kirk chug a glass of the green liquid and Nyla bump into someone standing behind her. The doctor whirled around, an apology immediately popping up, and Yasmine tensed as a sweet English, "Sorry! I should've been more careful," escaped her friend's lips.
As soon as a slew of irate faces turned sharply toward her, Nyla was backing toward Kirk, only to find both of them trapped in a circle of the Drususians.
"More Federation spies, no doubt!" the tallest man accused, taking each by the arm.
Yasmine felt Uhura's arm clamp closer, an anchor keeping her weighed down when all she wanted to do was rush over and pull her friends out of the storm. Kirk's face was twisted, angry, holding back fighting words while Nyla was blankly confused, hoping this bad dream could be washed away with a few blinks.
"Sir, I can assure you –" Kirk began, but all diplomacy was smacked away by the hand smartly colliding with his cheek.
A halted lunge brought the phaser at her hip to the forefront of Yasmine's mind. She willed herself not to pull it out but her hand hovered anyway as all sorts of awful possibilities played out in her mind just shy of reality.
"Doctor, I implore you," Spock said tensely to McCoy's muffled protests, "it is unwise for us to aide them now. We must fall back and regroup based on a larger number of rescuees."
Massive, stern guards that had blipped warning red on Yasmine's radar closed in on Kirk and Nyla to haul them away. She felt a brush against her free elbow and turned to see a panicked McCoy trying not to let the pair out of his sight, but embellished doors threatened to obscure them soon.
Nyla looked frantically at her fellow doctor while Kirk fanned his glance over them all at the last second. Oh captain, her captain, Yasmine rarely felt this helpless.
She shook it free, forcing feebleness to the wind as the now foursome backtracked to the castle entrance and out into the hypnotizing night. The clammy air added to the discomfort of strange clothes in a strange land and mixed in with the beads of uneasy sweat collecting on her neck.
"Now we've gone and done it." McCoy still held his voice at a whisper even at their safe distance.
"I have my ear communicator," Uhura blasted straight into solutions, "I'll get us out of here."
Spock shook his head once before pulling himself and Uhura a distance away. "The Lieutenant and I will beam aboard the Enterprise and relay the situation. My human half believes that the captain may be attempting as escape of himself and Doctor Harlow as we speak, and if he is successful it would be for the best for you to be here for his aide."
McCoy was less than impressed and cried out as flashes surrounded the other pair. "Spock, you can't be serious, you can't leave us here!"
And then there were two, and the deafening quiet absorbed them deeper than their elaborate garb already could. There were three moons visible overhead through the palm trees and Yasmine forced herself to count them over and over again until she was more controlled.
"My captain's a prisoner and my commander stranded us for probably the same fate. And I didn't get any damn sleep last night! Just fuckin' great." McCoy was pacing between two trees and quickly dug a groove with his boots that promised to swallow him soon.
"I'm not so keen on it either, Doc, but I'll let ya know if I find some coffee beans," Yasmine droned as she pulled pin after glittering pin from her hair, preparing for what could be a long inactive night. It was a waiting game from the Enterprise and a waiting game from Captive Kirk and Nyla and Yasmine never liked waiting or games. McCoy didn't seem to either.
Suddenly a twig snapped aways off and Yasmine reached for the phaser again. But thundering footsteps soon followed and the doctor's hand was on her elbow, dragging them both away from the onslaught of Drususians.
"Run, Roy!" He bellowed as they crashed through the underbrush and got farther and farther away from the spot that Spock and Uhura had left them, the spot they were supposed to eventually be beamed up from.
They were officially on the run, and officially very on their own.