Wow hey guys! Sorry for the unforgivably long Hiatus, I'm going to try to be better. Writer's Block combined with starting college is bad news for fanfictions!
Anyway I hope you like this long awaited chapter! Read, review, enjoy, the whole shebang.
Chapter Eleven: For The Need of the Many
"Today marks the first meeting in the operation to track, communicate with and if necessary destroy the hostile race known as The Theta," Jim's voice was easily heard by the assembled team in the largest briefing room aboard the Enterprise. They had decided to select an elite group to inform of the exact situation; the senior officers and bridge crew, a group of the best biological scientists and a security team.
Spock stepped onto the bridge and found himself confronted by an almost entirely unfamiliar bridge crew. A Lieutenant in gold he recognized as a Human named Brady was seated in Kirk's chair, and he approached at a quick stride. The young lieutenant's eyes widened at his arrival.
"C-Commander Spock!"
"Lieutenant Brady. Where is the senior bridge crew?" he demanded, and the young man drew himself up, visibly gathering courage to deal with the somewhat abrasive first officer.
"They're in an important senior staff meeting. We're to take care of the ship until they've finished," he said, staring into Spock's face, and the Vulcan frowned ever so slightly.
"A senior staff meeting?"
"Thank you all for your service, your sacrifice and especially your silence. We want to avoid this little project getting too far out of our hands," Kirk joked, and a ripple of somewhat nervous laughter traveled through the room. By 'out of their hands' Jim probably meant somewhere Starfleet Command could hear about it. What they were about to do wasn't illegal, per se, but it seemed unnecessarily dangerous and unusual, and there was bound to be a hell of a lot of red tape involved with getting official permission to utilize an unstable and unknown resource like Ran'Chaah seemed to be, so they were going to more or less leap from the ledge and hope for the best.
"What kind of senior staff meeting?"
"I don't know sir, but they've been in the Lower Briefing Room since 0700."
Spock turned on his heel and vanished from the bridge, many unsettlingly prominent and conflicting emotions bubbling beneath his skin. Why had he alone been excluded from this apparently important meeting with the other senior members of his ship's crew? Was it to do with his physical condition? He had rested, meditated and prepared for nearly a week and had returned to a condition similar to that which he had enjoyed before the first attempts at contact from Ran'Chaah.
Perhaps it was to do with Ran'Chaah. Did they not trust him with this information now that he would be sharing his mind?
"You all have your assignments?" Jim swept his eyes around the room, and upon finding his officers in agreement he nodded briskly.
"Good. Now remember; bringing down the Theta is our second priority. The safety of this ship, the safety of her crew, and the safety of her First comes first. You all understand? He'll try to bear the burden on his own, and we can't let him."
The door slid open behind Kirk's shoulder at that very moment and a frustrated Vulcan entered the room. He surveyed the startled or purposefully blank faces of the assembled crew and raised an eyebrow.
"I apologize for my interruption," he said to the silent room, "I was searching for the entire senior staff of the Enterprise. Now that I have located you, I will respectfully withdraw. Please carry on," he said somewhat sulkily and turned to leave.
"We were actually just about to retrieve you, Mr. Spock," Jim replied brightly, "I know you need your rest to prepare for what's ahead." He clapped a friendly hand on the Vulcan's shoulder, pulling him back into the room insistently. Spock observed him thoughtfully for a moment, deciding if he should point out the Captain's purposeful avoidance of the truth before deciding it would not be worth the elongated excuses and feigned innocence he would receive and settled for a long suffering nod. He took the seat at Jim's right hand which, he realized, had been left open despite his absence. Perhaps they really had been planning to fetch him.
"Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Spock before we bring in Ran'Chaah?"
A single caramell hand rose towards the back and Jim tensed. Uhura's dark eyes locked with Spock's in a poignant stare.
"Does Commander Spock have any sort of escape plan in the event that Ran'Chaah becomes hostile? How will he exume himself without destroying his own mind and body?"
Spock's dark gaze never wavered from hers.
"In that event, Lieutenant, it is the duty of this crew to do everything in its power to protect the Enterprise, regardless of whatever eventuality that may befall me. My life is of no greater value than any other."
The air all but crackled with the underlying tension between them, and Jim dropped a broad hand on Spock's stiff shoulder to break it.
"That's enough, Uhura. Anyone else?"
Silence met his challenge, and so he nodded and looked expectantly at Spock. The Vulcan glanced apprehensively at the crowded room and Kirk realized that the process of receiving Ran'Chaah was a bit more personal than his First Officer wanted to get with this many people, so he gestured to the small Ready Room at the back of the briefing chamber.
"If you'd prefer more privacy," he suggested softly, and Spock stared back for a moment contemplatively. Then he nodded shortly and rose.
The door swished closed behind them and Spock inhaled shallowly. Despite his unruffled appearance, he was actually becoming apprehensive about this whole affair.
"Nervous?" Jim asked softly, and Spock raised an eyebrow.
"Nervousness and uneasiness are Human Emotions," he chided and Kirk gave him a somewhat knowing smile but nodded.
"Of course. Whenever you're ready then."
Spock sat down in one of the swivelling chairs and closed his eyes, sensing the unwavering golden presence of Jim's consciousness behind him. Then he felt the many-colored thing which he had come to recognize as Ran'Chaah's psychological form floating formlessly above him, waiting.
The first sensation always came as a sort of swelling, as if he suddenly had too much internal mass to fit inside his external frame. Then it condensed into a splitting pain directly behind his eyes, a psychological pain that could not be suppressed by the usual tactics employed by his people to decrease the power of the sensation upon themselves. And finally the glittering being settled into the folds of his brain tissue, slipping on his skin like a glove, stretching experimentally as Spock felt himself tucked away for safekeeping inside his own mind.
The Vulcan's dark eyes opened slowly, and as usual it took him a few moments to get his bearings. Having a physical body after so long without one was disorienting, and he looked around, inspected his body, the fabric of his science blues.
"Ran'Chaah?" Kirk asked, and the being turned his bright eyed gaze on the Captain. They were the same dark brown as always, Jim knew that, but they seemed to almost glow from within. It wasn't Spock looking back at him.
"G-Good mo-orning, Cap-ptain," he said brightly, treating Jim to a more practiced smile, and Jim nodded to him.
"Good morning. Are you all settled in nice and comfy?"
Ran'Chaah shrugged Spock's shoulders, kicked his legs experimentally and pushed himself to a standing position. He swayed and nearly fell over instantly, but Kirk saved him the mild indignity and caught him. Ran'Chaah laughed in delighted surprise, and Jim swallowed the strange feeling in his throat. This wasn't Spock, he reminded himself, it was an alien being using Spock's body for its own purposes.
"M-Much grat-titude, Captain," He thanked, and Jim returned him to an upright position and stared intently into his eyes.
"Listen to me, Ran'Chaah," he said in a low, somewhat threatening tone, "Spock is my First Officer. He also happens to be one of my closest friends. If you do anything to endanger him, if you put one toe out of line in this agreement, I will find a way to rip you out of his head and keep you out. Understand?"
The deep eyes returned his gaze, and Ran'Chaah held up two fingers. He drew them across Spock's chest, touched the bridge of his nose then his forehead and extended them in an arc from there back down. It appeared to be some sort of ceremonial gesture, similar to the Catholic Crossing or the Aenarian Trust Mark.
"I s-swear on the l-lives of my-y pe-eople that Sp-pock will not be h-harmed by m-me," he said seriously, and then a sparkle of joviality returned to his eyes. "It is g-good th-that he has y-you to ca-are for him, Captain," he said, and Jim felt for some reason that Ran'Chaah was putting more stock in his worry than he should have. The Captain cleared his throat and gestured to the door.
"Ready to go out and meet the world, Ran'Chaah?"
The alien took a deep breath and nodded, one hand resting over the left side of Spock's abdomen. Jim looked at him curiously, and the telepathic being offered him a slightly crooked smile that had an interesting affect on the Human's heartbeat.
"I am n-nervous. The b-body rea-acts to h-how I fe-eel. I m-missed this."
Jim slid open the doors.
"Bones, where is Ran'Chaah?"
Kirk stood impatiently in Sickbay as the CMO tended to Carol Marcus' nearly healed wounds, and the older man threw his hands up in resignation.
"I told you I don't know, Jim! After the briefing he came here for a checkup and I think Chekov took him somewhere."
"You just let him go?" Jim demanded, and Bones glowered at his friend.
"I've got a sickbay to run here, Jim. I'm not an alien babysitter! I've got Dr. Marcus and several sick people to deal with so why don't you go and deal with it on your own?"
He pushed Jim towards the door and then out of it, sealing Sickbay behind him. Kirk huffed in indignation.
"It's my ship, you grouchy old man," he muttered, but went off in search of the Russian and Ran'Chaah. His quest led him to the Engineering labs where he discovered a group of engineering personnel engaged in an excited conversation.
"But how d'yeh know where yer comin' out on the other side?" Scotty asked, and the bent silky black head of Spock bobbed where he was leaning over a holoscreen entering data.
"T-The exotic m-matter core is uns-stable; there is a-a bit of...random chance inv-volved," he admitted, and Scotty spluttered in shock.
"Yeh just go hoppin' about the galaxy with no idea as to where yer goin'?! That's insane!"
Ran'Chaah laughed in reply, in Spock's sonorous voice, vivid and almost teasing. Jim's stomach flipped, and he quickly ignored the strange feeling.
"N-No more ins-sane than what you do h-here...Mr. Sc-cott," Ran'Chaah pointed out, and the Chief Engineer spluttered but fell silent. "Bes-sides, we do not s-simply let the m-machine do all the work."
"Oh? Is that so? And how exac'ly do yeh help it along? Get out and push?"
Some of the engineers chuckled, and Ran'Chaah shook his head, tapping Spock's temple. His eyes danced with delight and he held the crew rapt.
"Wi-ith our m-minds," he said as if it were obvious, and Scotty developed a rather skeptical look on his face.
"Are yeh sayin' yeh figured out a way to telepathic'lly connect with the machines?"
"O-Of course," he replied easily, "w-we use t-telepathy in...all that we-e do."
"Is that why the Theta's course is so random?" Kirk interjected, and a dozen heads whipped around in surprise. His presence had gone unknown up to that point and his sudden addition to the conversation had startled the assembled engineers.
Spock's face lit up with Ran'Chaah's joy at seeing the Captain, and that inexplicable warmth blossomed in Jim's chest again.
"Y-Yes, Captain," Ran'Chaah explained, "t-they do not p-possess...the ability. The mach-chine will take the-em wherever it s-sees fit."
"Sounds like a problem to track."
"Not i-if we can make conta-act with the exotic m-matter core. I ca-an tell it w-where to go."
"But first we need to be within range of the ship?" Kirk guessed, and Ran'Chaah nodded. The Captain sighed.
"What kind of range will you need?"
"Around n-ninety of y-your Lightye-ears."
"Sounds doable. Scotty!" The Chief Engineer perked up at the order being directed his way. "He tells you go, you go. I'll bring him up top with Chekov to work out a course."
"That's already been done, sir," another Engineer spoke up, "Mr. Chekov has been following Ran'Chaah's course for the last hour."
Jim nodded, but wasn't sure he liked the fact that Ran'Chaah was already so comfortable ordering around his crew. It could be residual Spock authority, but it could become trouble if he got used to it.
"Well then. Get back to work everyone," he teased, and the Engineers went back to their business. Spock's dark head was heading for the door, and Kirk hurried after him.
"Ran'Chaah, wait." The dark eyed being paused, eyes glittering curiously, and Jim pulled him aside into a partly secluded alcove.
"I-Is someth-thing wrong Ca-aptain?" he asked, popping one of Spock's eyebrows.
"Not exactly. I just...the crew seems to like you," Jim commented, and Ran'Chaah beamed, hands clasped excitedly.
"Do the-ey Captain? It has b-been so lo-ong since I have be-een loved."
Jim couldn't help the compassion he felt, but he rested a cautionary hand on the alien's shoulder.
"I understand that it's exciting, but just remember that Spock's body is not yours. Try to be respectful of his boundaries."
"I wi-ill try," Ran'Chaah promised.
Next chapter will hopefully be up before Thanksgiving, your reviews, views and support are the only reasons I keep going. I love you guys! Thanks for being the best readers ever!
FG
