Title: Home (Multichapter fic with 35 parts)
Beta: Lissaea at Livejournal and T'Key'La
Warnings, Themes and Tropes, etc.: bondage, torture, prostitution, explicit sex, drug use
Summary: The Vulcans need a new home planet, so the Enterprise and her crew set out to find one for them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters.
– Home (Part 3 of 35) –
In Jim's dark quarters a high pitched beep sounded, which caused Jim to yawn and drag himself out of bed. The comm panel on his desk was blinking, so he tapped the computer screen, which showed one unread message. It was from Starfleet headquarters. The last remnants of sleep flew from his mind and his heart started beating faster. Finally, the new orders!
The message was long and with his fuzzy head it took him longer than usual to read. Attached to it were star charts, historical documentation and a few readings from a sensor array.
Jim sagged back into his chair and let out a breath. He checked the message over one more time, but there was no indication of who specifically had sent it. No matter, he was almost certain it was from Pike, and he'd remember to thank him when they next spoke. Spock needed a mission he could really get his teeth into, something to distract him from … everything. His whole crew needed such a mission and Jim honestly couldn't think of anything better than this one to do the job. They were to head to a cluster of star systems near the Azure Nebula to search for a planet suitable to sustain a Vulcan colony.
A quarter of an hour later, Jim was briefing all department heads and sending out ship-wide announcements. While the hum of the Enterprise'sengines was steadily increasing as the ship geared up to leave orbit, Jim found his blood coursing through his veins faster and harder too.
Jim laughed loud and clapped Scotty on the back. "I knew you could get those sensors up to top efficiency in less than three weeks!"
"It'll help us when we finally reach our destination and start our search for a new planet for the Vulcans! Don't you worry, Captain, we'll find them a hot desert dust-ball in no time!"
Jim flashed him a wide grin. "Right, I'm off to inspect the astrophysics labs, but don't worry, I'll be back to check up on the engines later."
"You'll find the Enterpriserunning smoother than when she was a new lass!" Scotty shouted after him.
Everyone on the ship was busy and had been since they received their orders a month ago, working their hardest to prepare for the mission. Jim too felt a surge of hope at being part of this search. Now they'd nearly reached the far away Azure Nebula.
That evening, as soon as the doors to the officer's rec room opened, his ears were treated to some sort of harp music and a soft voice. A few decks of cards, which had previously been collecting dust, lay spread-out on one table, and the 3D chess boards were occupied. Jim scanned the room for Bones. What caught his eye instantly though was the sight of Uhura resting her hands on the back of Spock's chair, while he was playing what looked like some sort of lyre. She was singing along in a language he didn't understand. He wondered if it was Vulcan.
The music sounded sad, though having any kind of music in the rec room was an improvement on the usually quiet and subdued atmosphere of the room in which people tended to whisper rather than talk.
Watching Spock play such a soulful tune with such a blank face, was …, well, it made him itch all over to know if the music was a projection of what Spock was feeling or just standard Vulcan music. He certainly envied Spock for being able to hide how he felt from the world, if only he himself could learn such self-control and logic, but his brain just wasn't able to think in such a way, he knew.
Jim forced himself to take his eyes off Spock, he was here to see Bones. He spotted him on the other side of the room in a quiet corner and went over to him.
"Glad to see those two are back on track," he said, as he sank into a seat next to his friend. "You know, I really wasn't sure for a while."
"No?" Bones said dryly. "I thought it was your job to know?"
"It is, but they've been through a lot," he replied.
Bones nodded. "Although I find it hard to feel too sorry for our green blooded Don Juan."
"True, you could see it that way."
"What the hell does she see in him anyway?" Bones said. The man took a sip from his drink, after which he shook his head, grinning broadly.
"What?" Jim asked.
"I was just thinking that if that's what the future Casanovas of this galaxy look like, I don't stand a chance, do I?" It was clear from Bones's light tone he was joking, though he then finished his drink in one gulp. "Well, I know you only just arrived, but it's not my fault you don't know where the rec room is and got lost on the way. I've got to go! Got to make sure sickbay is running smoothly."
The rec room doors opened to let Bones out.
Jim closed his eyes so he could pay more attention to the sound of the lyre, after all, this might be a one off, he'd never even known Vulcans enjoyed music—he hadn't known Spock did. At that thought he frowned and opened his eyes again; looking around he saw groups of people talking to one another easily, Spock was still playing, while Uhura had joined a table and was setting up a game of cards. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, socializing effortlessly, all of them part of a group.
He didn't belong—he got up and left for his quarters. At his arrival there he found the Admiralty had left a short message saying only that they'd be calling him tomorrow.
The main view screen on the bridge that had shown Admiral Barrows just moments ago was now blank. Jim sat very still for about a minute. No one on the bridge said a word.
He walked to the turbolift. "Commander, with me, please."
There was no need for him to turn around to check if Spock was with him, he knew he was. When they were alone in the lift, he turned to Spock.
"So, the USS Excalibur? Headquarters must trust us to be able to complete this mission on our own, so what do you think this is all about? Why are they joining us? It's taken us three weeks just to reach this sector and now all of a sudden, it's no problem to call over another ship that happens to be nearby? Why not send the Excaliburearlier to do some preliminary tests if they are meant to be helping us and were deployed close by anyway?"
"Captain, I am afraid I do not have the answers you are looking for."
"No, of course not, but I value your speculations."
"This sector has not been patrolled by Starfleet vessels in seven months due to a lack of ships. They might have reason to be concerned about security."
"We're in Federation territory …," Jim trailed off and looked at Spock, their eyes meeting. "Hmmm. So I guess this message was an admission from headquarters that being in Federation territory doesn't mean what it used to."
"The USS Excaliburhas drawn up alongside us, and Captain Patel is ready to beam over," Scotty said.
"Well, beam him over then!" Jim said over the intercom. "I'll be with you in a few seconds."
And when the doors to the transporter room opened in front of Jim moments later, he flashed Scotty a broad smile while the man brought the controls down to solidify the pattern of their guest.
Once the gold mist had faded Jim stepped closer to the transporter pads. "Welcome to the Enterprise, Captain Patel!"
Pravit Patel was about the same height as Jim and had a similar build, but the grey streaks that peppered his otherwise black hair gave him an air of solidity and experience that Jim knew he lacked.
"Oh, none of that! Call me Pravit."
"Jim," he replied.
As Jim shook hands with Pravit he found his shoulder muscles relaxing. He hadn't realized how tense he always was on-duty-and as a starship captain you were never really off-duty. It been four weeks already since he'd last visited Bones in sickbay and they'd shared that drink-it really was only on rare occasions he now got to address his chief medical officer as 'Bones'.
"Wonderful new ship, I look forward to a tour of her!" Pravit said. "Though I fear we must get down to business first."
This elicited a large smile from Jim. "This way to the briefing lounge," he said, indicating.
"Commander Spock will be joining us to go over the mission details, but I thought we would get some of the more tedious paper work out of the way first," Jim said as they walked through the corridors and Pravit agreed to that.
Once they reached the briefing lounge they got settled down at the table with their PADDs spread out on it. They were both sipping some coffee that Jim had gotten them to see them through the grind of reading and signing the mission documents; only a few more to go, he told himself.
"So how have things been recently?" Patel asked. "Quiet?"
"For the most part," Jim replied. "Though that enquiry into Commander Spock's conduct has been giving me some headache of course. It officially started three weeks ago-there was simply nothing I could do to convince anyone to drop the case."
Patel knitted his brows. "Why were you trying to do that?"
Jim stared at him wide-eyed.
"It's like this, Jim," Patel said, "I understand you want to protect him because he's Vulcan, and they've been through hell, but believe me, I speak from experience-you have to put such things aside when it comes to your first officer. As you know, and I'm sure Spock has observed, in the Fleet the rules can be, and are, broken by the command crew if the situation merits it. It's very important that you're able to completely trust your First. Spock breached a rule pertaining to ethical conduct; are you sure you can you trust his moral judgment? There's a reason human captains and not computers are in charge of ships."
Jim felt the heat rising to his face. "Spock, and every Vulcan, … they are not computers. Of course they are moral beings," he hissed at Pravit. "I trust Spock absolutely."
Pravit didn't seem in the least perturbed by Jim's outburst and Jim quickly tried to get himself under control again.
"Jim, I did not mean to imply that Vulcans were simply walking, talking computers," Pravit said. "I was questioning one individual's ability to make the right decisions. I hope you are placing your trust in him with good reason, not simply to assuage feelings of guilt you may be experiencing due to Vulcan's destruction."
Jim focused on breathing calmly. "Captain, with all due respect, you know nothing of the relationship that exists between me and my first officer."
"I am simply offering you frank advice," Pravit said, looking at him over the rim of his coffee cup, still maddeningly serene.
Jim felt stupid for his outburst. Pravit had been nothing but polite and helpful so far, and he was aware that his reaction to what Pravit had just said probably did nothing to alleviate Pravit's fears that he might be biased towards Spock simply because he was a Vulcan.