Chapter 17 - Troubling Changes

The next day was rather eventful. King Baal stepped down and Achaz took the throne with Elene by his side as the new Oracle and his wife. The peace treaty the sealed good relations with the Federation and the trade agreement were both signed publicly, cheers and the like erupting.

As his gift, Kephas returned with a special sword and shield made of a rare, especially hard to damage metal that shined white, inlaid with silver and gold, his Captain's insignia on the shield, and rank stripes circling the blade. Kephas had been a blacksmith, attempting to win the heart of a craftswoman who already had affections for him. Kirk took the gifts graciously, all the while wondering where he'd put them…

By the time it was all over it was evening, about 1600 hours, or four o'clock. Eri packed the things she wanted most and could not be parted with, and joined the crew back at the ruins where they beamed aboard. Her excitement and wonder reminded him of Sarah when he first showed her around, and he ordered Raiden's duties be relaxed so he could care for her and help her with whatever she needed. Kirk retreated to his office to start on the report after telling Mr. Sulu to set course for, as he put it, 'anywhere but here'.

An hour and a half later, The Federation wasn't particularly happy he brought aboard a native, and lectured him about it. Then, thankfully, it was already 15 minutes to six, so he told them to stuff it in the most polite, professional way possible, and then proceeded to cut communication and attend the dinner.

That was when he experienced a pleasant surprise, as well as a confused one. Without telling her a word about his preferences, Eri plopped down a plate of Italian noodles and he practically drooled all over himself at the smell and sight. All his favorite seasonings, too! Sarah got a plate of sweet and sour chicken, with a bowl of mixed fruit on the side. Raiden got a juicy looking piece of steak, and Bria received what looked like…Chinese noodles with beef strips, broccoli, and carrots throughout, and it smelled particularly sweet…teriyaki maybe? He didn't see what Bones and Ayano got, too busy looking around for their missing party member, which was the cause of his confused surprise. "Where's Spock?"

"He sends his apologies," Bria frowned, "He said he doesn't feel well, and didn't wish to eat." She shrugged, but Kirk knew she was concerned.

"Okay…well, I guess we'll just have to have extra fun for him," Kirk smiled, "This looks so amazing, Eri! Thank you!"

Eri blushed, "Thank you, Captain." She retreated back to the kitchen, quickly returning without her apron and tray, and with her food. Instead of the togas and dresses, she wore a yellow Engineer dress and brown tights, with brown boots. She possessed absolutely no black in her wardrobe.

Ayano took a bite of her sushi rolls, "Well, Eri, you are /certainly/ an Engineer of the kitchen!"

The group laughed at that, and the evening continued normally.

X

The next day, the 6th Bria checked by Spock's quarters, and she heard music playing…a string instrument, like a harp…it was hard to figure out what to relate it too, honestly. Maybe it was an entirely different instrument of this time, or perhaps from his culture. She stood there a minute just listening, before turning away, not wanting to disturb him.

Something made her worried, though. So she made her way down to the med-bay, "Hey, Bones? Can I talk to you?"

"Hm?" McCoy looked up from his latest lab experiment and tilted his head curiously at Bria, "Of course. What's the matter? You look kind of pale…are you alright?"

Was she? Now she thought about it, she did feel a bit weaker, but nothing that got in the way of work, "I'm alright, thank you. I don't think Spock is, though…"

"Why? What could possibly be wrong with that pointy-eared Vulcan?" Bones grunted.

"I don't know…that's why I came to you. He's stubborn, as I'm sure you know," she smiled as Bones snorted, which was a yes, "Could you schedule a medical exam?"

The things he suffered through for others. Grumbling he turned to his computer and his fingers flew across his keyboard, "There, ya happy? One's set up for tomorrow."

Green eyes brightened and she smiled, "Thank you! I appreciate it!" she waved before darting back out.

X

On the 7th, Bria had asked the computer when was the last time Spock had left his room, it replied with he hadn't. She felt lonely without him, and /now/ was concerned. If he hadn't eaten…she made her way to Eri and learned on the spot with the other woman's natural abilities how to make the Vulcan breakfast food gespar. A fruit she found rather delicious. After having an entire plate herself to start her day, she made Spock some, and was on her way to his room when her communicator went off. Ugh…she had duties to attend to.

"Ayano!" She called to the woman she saw walking the corridors, and she jogged over, "Hey! I made these for Spock but I got duties to take care of. Could you take them to him? Please? He hasn't eaten at all in two days."

Ayano blinked in surprise, "Yeah, I can definitely do that for you, sweetie," she took the tray and watched Bria dart off. Breakfast in bed, huh? How romantic and cute. The Japanese woman giggled and hurried to the Vulcan's room, wanting to give it to him before it got cold.

Pressing the button to chime the door, she heard 'go away' faintly, "Open up, Spock, it's Ayano. I have something for you." There was shuffling and banging before the door finally opened. Walking in, she saw him standing in the middle of the room, staring at her darkly, the lights dim. She went to his side, "These are for you, they're…" she gasped when his hand shot out, preventing her from explaining further as he knocked the entire tray out of her hands, and she had to duck as it flew past her, the plate shattering all the way across the room against the wall with the force.

"If I had wanted anything, I would've asked for it! Now get out!" he snapped.

"/Excuse me/? You baka!" she accidentally slipped into her native tongue as she squared off against the Vulcan, a dangerous move as he growled at her, tensing at the provocation, "Had you let me finish what I was saying, I was going to tell you they were from Bria!"

/That/ got his attention.

Spock clasped his hand tightly behind his back to try to control himself. He knew harming Ayano would do nothing but cause trouble, and she didn't understand that her challenge was a deadly one. She just needed to leave... "This would not happen if you would not have come. It is undignified for a woman to play servant to a man that is not hers. I am most certainly not yours, Ayano. Now leave."

"Like hell. I was only delivering the food to you because Bria asked me too, you blockheaded Vulcan," Ayano huffed, "Now you come with me to the med-bay /right now/. You have an appointment with Dr. McCoy." It wasn't supposed to be for another hour, but Spock obviously needed it. She walked over to the door, and then looked back at Spock who was still standing stiffly, "Don't you dare make me call the /Captain/, Commander," she hissed.

Spock's jaw locked as he growled and reluctantly followed after the Japanese woman. He did not need the Captain involved in this as it was none of his concern. Perhaps the sooner he went through with this the sooner they would leave him alone. By the time they reached the med bay, Spock was ready to rip the gears off the wall to leave. "McCoy this is had no need. I did not schedule a physical. To do so for me is prying into my personal matters. With that said I will take my leave."

Bones looked to Ayano in shock over the Vulcan's attitude before putting on a stern face and blocking his path. "Now you listen here, Spock. You're going to get onto that examination table and let me do my job."

Spock growled down at the doctor, his body tensing for a fight, "Get out of my way. As your superior of-"

"Damn it, man! Just get on the damn table already! I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart, you know. /Bria/ asked me to do so." Bones snapped, glaring right back at the Vulcan, "Now her birthday is tomorrow, and unless you are about to do a 360 and change back to your /logical/ self, you're going to do as I say...for Bria's sake!"

Pausing at this, the Vulcan grudgingly made his way over to the table silently. He had no choice in the matter when they bring Bria into the picture. He would do anything for her...

Ayano and Bones quickly got things set up. When they were done, Bones took a blood sample, and many other different readings. After that, they sent them to the lab to be tested and the results would come back to them in a couple minutes. Ayano grabbed Spock's arm before he could escape and before he could turn his head, stabbed him in the neck with an injection, and then pulled away out of his reach, "That should help you relax. Meditate before you step foot out of your room tomorrow."

Spock shot a dark glare at the human woman. What was it with medical professionals and stabbing shots in the neck? He recalled Jim complaining about how Bones would give him shots without any warning. "Fine..." he growled, though the concoction already started to swamp his mind. This, however, also caused his body to panic as he seemed to drift to a dulled state. Spock quickly left the medical room and back to his quarters before the medical officers decided he needed something else. Ayano was correct; he needed to meditate before tomorrow. He had much work to do, and thankfully it could all be done right away as he had been planning this for some time now.

Bones waited until the hobgoblin left before going up to his lovely assistant and placing a hand on her lower back. They were in a workplace and on duty; otherwise he would had wrapping his arms around her. She had acted...roughly with Spock, something that concerned him as Ayano usually had the gentlest of touches, one reason she was so good at what she does. "What's wrong, Ayano? You're upset over something. Was it Spock?" he coached, softly using the hand on her back to rub the area in a soothing manner.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, trying to calm, she let herself enjoy his touch. Finally she explained what happened, "I was in the middle of the hallway on my way here for work when Bria stopped me. She had made gespar for Spock, breakfast in bed, but she got called for duty, so she asked me to take it to him. I did so, but the pointed-eared prick knocked the entire tray from my hands and across the room without letting me tell him who they were from. It's...a little scary, seeing his strength like that. It's a wonder why Bria never flinches and actually /seeks him out/ for training sessions."

"Bria is a whole other sort of crazy, my dear." Bones scoffed, shaking his head, "She can and is willing to take it. Though the fact that he acted that way towards /you/ is upsetting. There is something rather wrong with Spock, but trying to figure out what is harder than keeping Jim out of trouble."

"He was all 'a woman shouldn't play servant to a man' and stuff like that," Ayano huffed, using air quotes, and shook her head. Turning to face him she smiled and leaned up, kissing him lightly before there was a buzz that alerted them that the results were back. Pulling away she blushed a bit, "I'll get back to work, in any case." With that she attended to a crewman that just walked in, sneezing and groaning, looking like crap.

Bones smirked as he watched Ayano walk off, shaking his head. His wonderfully strong Ayano wouldn't take crap from anyone. She said she was scared when Spock threw the tray, yet she had forced the Vulcan to come to the med bay all on her own. Bones continued to muse to himself as he went to look over the test results. They were not what he expected at all.

X

Jim heard rapt knocking on his office door and he looked over his shoulder at it from fiddling with the sword and shield mounted on his wall. "Come in!" he called, making one last tweak before he went over to his desk. Surprise crossed his face as he saw his favorite doctor walk through, worry evident in his eyes, "Whoa, what's up, Bones?"

"Jim, it's about Spock. You have to talk to him and figure out what is causing all of this to happen to him." Bones stated quickly, time was already counting down for the Vulcan male. "He won't talk to me or Ayano, and I really don't want to involve Bria at the moment. That might just cause things to get worse."

"What's the big emergency? What's wrong with Spock?" Jim frowned deeply. Was it the same thing that caused him to get so...violent, the other day? This was so weird...he'd never thought Spock would do something like that, what with Vulcan's claiming to be so emotionless, it was freaking him out.

"Jim...If you can't get how ever to fix this out of Spock...he'll die in a week to eight days." Bones had to use every bit of his profession experience to remain as calm as he appeared. As much as he wanted to hang Spock up by his pointed ears at times, the man was still his, questionable, friend and a great officer. The fact that those results came back stating what they did, made the doctor sick to his stomach. It had been a good thing that Bria's duties prevented her from going to the physical. She would be worried to no end.

Kirk paled and his eyes widened. "Spock will..." the information whirled in his head, the pieces settling in place one by one, and he slowly nodded, "I'll go right now. Thank you, Bones, for doing your job. I'll make sure to get it out of him," he would try to go about it the friend way, but if not he was pretty sure Spock's stubborn ass would require Captain Mode. He walked over to the door and patted Bone's shoulder. He quickly bolted to the turbo-lift. Spock would spill his guts one way or another. He couldn't let him die. What would he do without him? Spock kept him grounded, logical when he wanted to be gun-ho about everything and un-Captain like. Also...what about Bria? He was so adamant about finding her; about needing her...he couldn't just leave her behind like that!

Getting to the correct floor, Jim made his way to Spock's door and buzzed, "Spock, open up."

Upon hearing the voice of his Captain, Spock pulled himself from his meditation and moved to unlock the door. "Captain? What is it that you need?" he inquired softly, his being in a state of dull...passiveness due to the drug Ayano gave him and his previous mediation. It was...not surprising that Kirk would seek him out after the physical. His vitals likely showed an extreme imbalance of chemicals that would give signs of his impending Time.

Kirk walked in without invitation. He didn't need it. "I think it's about time you explain yourself, Spock," he told the other man, turning to face him; "I want to help you. As your friend, Spock, please tell me what's happening to you," he pleaded. Spock looked so...tired, and worn. A week to eight days? With the dark green bags under his eyes, and the way his pale skin was taunt over his high cheek bones, he looked like he would keel over tomorrow.

Spock folded his hands behind his back as he turned away from the Captain. He could not tell him. It was not permitted to speak of such things to an outsider, let alone a Captain in the Federation. Vulcans kept these things private. To tell him would go against his ways, especially on record. "Captain...I request a leave of absence on the planet New Vulcan. If we alter course now, it will take approximately two days."

"We can go there, sure, but I refuse to agree to a leave of absence without proper reason," Kirk folded his arms over his chest. Technically, he could go off of Bones' results as enough reason, but god damn it, he wanted to know! "Maybe I should grab Bria?" He turned and went towards the door. It was a low blow but the reaction he got was what he wanted.

"No!" the Vulcan practically roared, grabbing Kirk's shoulder and pulling him away from the door in a half rough manner, not that he meant to. Jerking himself away from the blond male, Spock panted slightly as he moved to his desk. His hand brushed against the stylus for his PADD and his fingers automatically enclosed around it. His body told him to be prepared to stop Kirk with whatever means he needed. He had to protect Bria, this included from Kirk's lack of knowledge. "It...it is not something that we tell outsiders...Vulcans keep this extremely private only to those that are involved. Jim, all I ask for is a leave of absence..."

Kirk placed his hand on his shoulder where Spock grabbed him, rubbing lightly, "You're so infuriatingly stubborn, you know that?" he snapped. Fine. If he refused to tell him as his friend, he would be his Captain. Squaring off, he placed his own hands behind his back, "Spock, enough is enough. Would it help if I told you this would be strictly confidential?" It would've been anyway, but perhaps he needed verbal confirmation, "Trust me, as your Captain, to keep your secrets safe. No one will know. I think Bria deserves to know, but that's your job. I won't say a word."

Considering this, Spock slowly turned to Kirk once more, his hand still gripping the stylus behind his back in an iron grasp. His body fought against his will to remain immobile. If Kirk wasn't careful, he could very well be injured. The words were still difficult to get out, but he attempted to do so anyway, "...It...has to do with Biology; more specifically...reproduction. Once every seven years...a Vulcan male undergoes a period called...Pon Farr...Time of Mating..."

"So..." Jim stared at him, "You need to mate somebody? What part about this will cause you to die in eight days?" Well he could see why this would be extremely private for a Vulcan. He had to pull teeth to get this guy to say a word about sex. Was it the same for other Vulcans? "Bria seems to me like she'd be more than willing to get it on with you."

Spock cleared his throat pointedly, forcing the images out of his mind that Kirk's words stirred, "It is...more than that...during Pon Farr...our minds become stripped of all logic...we only care for our own desires...It bring a madness that rips away our vainer of civilization...If I do not mate when my Time has come...I will be driven mad and die...this...madness destroys us from the inside out..."

Oh...so /that/ was why he didn't want to get her involved. "Mate or die...no pressure," Kirk muttered sarcastically. "How will going to New Vulcan help? Spock...I'll do whatever I can to get you through this. I don't want to lose you. You mean a lot to...several people on this ship." He nearly said 'you mean a lot to me' but he really shouldn't get into that at this point in time.

The Vulcan looked curiously at the Captain, but did not say anything about the pause in his sentence. "...I must speak with the Council. My...wife-to-be...died on Vulcan when Nero created the black hole within its core...I must speak with them to present my request for...Bria to be my mate. I will have no other...I will die from not mating than to Bond with anyone else..."

Shit just got real. "Right." He turned back to the door, but before he hit the button to open it, he smiled at Spock, "I didn't hear any of this, alright?" He winked with a thumbs-up, "I'll have us on New Vulcan the day after tomorrow, and it'll be for a week's worth of shore leave for the whole crew, that way you won't be singled out. Everything's going to be okay, I promise." With a nod, he left the room.

Spock watched the Captain leave before pulling the stylus out from behind his back and staring at it as his hand shook. He could only pray that he was not driven mad before...no. He must remain strong, for Bria. Yet…he felt a growing shame within himself for what he would do if his request was accepted...His strong, beautiful Bria...If she accepted this as well, he knew not if she would even survive…