Prison Break
Back before she wore her hair as long, when it was cut in a short bob, framing her face, She sat on his mother's porch swing, in his lap and they rocked back and forth on the seat. He squeezed her tightly and said, "Did you know that you make even me a better man?" She laughed at the compliment, not even sure if that was what she would call it.
"Your mother does not seem to think so." Nyota responded to the comment.
Livingston scoffed, "If I ever listened to my mother, I would not be who I am today. She is not very encouraging." He frowned.
Nyota touched his face and said, "She seems to me to be doing the best that she can, considering. Who knows how hard it is to raise a genius all alone?"
"A genius? Is that what you think of me? That seems to include me in with other intellectuals. I don't know if I like that idea. I am more adapted to thinking that I am in a class of my own."
"Uh, yeah, when you have to wear a universal translator to dumb down your sentences for people speaking the same exact language to understand, yes, I would say that you are in a class of your own." She said, laughingly. He seemed to be thinking about something. "What are you thinking about?"
"The fact that my father never got the chance to see me become the person that I pride myself in being." He answered, then added, "He would have liked you." She smiled and took a deep breath. "Nyota, have you thought about contributing your DNA to my research, at all?"
She stared out ahead of her into the darkness of the night. His mother did not have lights around her house, because, according to her, they attract all kinds of bugs. The woman hardly ever stepped foot out of the house, so Nyota did not even know how she knew what the hell a bug was. But, as she looked out at nothing, she answered, "I have thought about it, but I am still thinking. I don't know, Livingston. Don't you think that two of me is a bit much to handle?" She smiled, without facing him.
He simply answered, "Well, as of right now, the options are two of you... or two of me..."
"Oh dear Lord! What would I do with two of you?" She asked and glanced back at him.
"And just to let you know, both of us would want you." He kissed her on the cheek.
She smiled now, two of her, that was not really the attractive part. She sometimes got sick of dealing with herself, so two of her would probably be unbearable in large dosages, but the fact that she could become a significant part of scientific history... "I think that I will do it. I mean, why not? What is the worse that could happen? If you're successful, there are two of me. That means that we could begin replicating the best of Starfleet personnel, and we can have them on the best ships, helping ensure that Starfleet is well manned. If you are not successful, the one me is well equipped to support you through any shortcomings."
Livingston sighed and said, "I do not know if I want my work dedicated to Starfleet. I have been going over the different regulations for the experiments, and I must admit, that I believe that not only Starfleet, but the Federation itself will be a hindrance to my progress."
"Well, just make sure that your progress falls in line with regulations."
"It is not that simple, Nyota." She turned to focus her eyes on his face. There was only one small lamp, hanging from the post of the porch and she could barely see his expression, but she knew that he sounded sad. "Nyota, if I mess this up, if I do not get it exactly right, will you still love me?"
She pressed her nose against his and said, "If you do not get it exactly right, then you will be just like any other scientist who did not prove something to himself. So, I guess a more accurate question would be would you still love you?" Livingston kissed her. She had not answered his question, and he hated to ask her anything twice, for fear of what the answer may be. He accepted her response and convinced himself that he would simply not mess up.
Nyota was singing, weakly. Spock could hear her voice singing a song that she sometimes sang when Sytar was in her womb and seemed unable to calm himself. The feeling was so alarming to her that she would sing to "make herself feel better", and as a result, Sytar himself, inside of her would calm down. Now, she was singing that same song.
Spock looked at Sybok and asked, "Your illogical ways seek no end, do they? Has it occurred to you that Styik, who had even more of a reason, if there existed reason to behave spitefully has treated our son more as a brother should than you have me?"
"It has occurred and reoccurred, Spock. It also does not change anything. You and I perhaps should not be at the point in our relationship in which we are, but we are here, now." Spock stopped walking and faced Sybok. Sybok paused. The two of them stared at each other. Sybok had some years of aging on Spock, and the bottom of his face was full of facial hair, but aside from that, they looked remarkably like each other. No matter what they went through, when Spock looked at Sybok head on, this way... Sybok saw his younger brother. "Keep walking, Spock. You said that it was necessary for you to see your wife."
Spock heeded this advice, but as he walked, he pointed out, "In the time period that you have been spiteful towards me, it never occurred to me exactly how much you hate me, until now. You could have shown me your feelings by harming me, and instead, you have chosen to make me endure her suffering instead. I do not understand what I could have done to experience you exact this type of attack against her. I never would have presumed that you would so wrongfully treat an innocent and significantly weaker human."
"Shut up, Spock." Sybok said, trying not to look at his brother, and trying to erase the words he had just spoken from his mind.
Livingston watched them on the security cameras, every step of the way. He assumed that Spock would monitor himself differently than he had when in the company of Livingston. He had not been disappointed. Through zoom ins and fierce concentration, Livingston was able to see Spock's expression portray negative emotions. He was grateful for his contribution in this aspect. He smiled to himself as he tended to his face, while watching the brothers continue on their path.
She was a featured star in dance recitals, and Livingston had come backstage after one of her performances. She smiled at the mirror, at the sight of him behind her. He placed both hands on her shoulders and leaned forward to kiss her just beneath her ear and she trembled, slightly, at the sensation. "Stop it, I'm all sweaty."
"That is the time when you glow the most." He said, nudging her with his nose.
"Livingston." He lifted his head and looked at their reflections, together.
He said, "We are going to have beautiful children." Nyota sighed and gave their reflection a sad smile.
She told him, "You know that I don't like to talk about that. It will be years before I am ready to have children. I still have school, and Starfleet."
"About Starfleet... I really need to speak with you."
Now, she turned in the chair for the first time and he studied her concerned face, shiny with beads of perspiration. He took a deep breath and said, "I do not know if I think that it is the best thing for you to do." She opened her mouth to argue, but he said, "Hear me out. You love your current life, right? You love me and you love the university and your studies and traveling and meeting all types of new lifeforms. You can do all of that without enlisting in Starfleet."
"It isn't about whether or not I can do it without enlisting in Starfleet. The fact is that I want to be in Starfleet, and you knew that when you proposed and we have already discussed this!"
He sighed and said, "I was given a grant. The Federation is going to send me to one of their newest stations and supply me with help for my cloning research." She now smiled brightly and gave him a big hug.
"That is great!" She let go of him and said, "I am so proud of you, but I don't see why that would warrant me not joining Starfleet."
"I think that I will need you, to help encourage me. I want us to get married before I leave and I want you to come with me."
She froze and turned to face the mirror, again.
"We have discussed this already, too. I have no intention of getting married before I finish school, and I have every intention of joining Starfleet after I am done at the university." She rested her forehead in her hand. "I love you, Livingston, but don't you think that you're asking a bit much of me? This is my life that you are attempting to completely change." She looked up at his reflection and said, "I will have to think about what you've said, but I seriously doubt that I will change my mind."
"You said that about giving me samples of your DNA for cloning." He said, with a slightly satisfied grin.
She could not help but grin back and she said, "I know, but this is different. This affects my entire future. I will let you know, as soon as I come to a decision."
When Sybok and Spock reached the cell, the guard opened the door and Sybok shoved Spock inside of the cell and shut the door. Spock looked at Nyota and she stopped singing and stared back at him. She laughed, lightly, then winced in the pain that even that small movement caused, and asked, "What in the hell took you so long?" He walked up to her and touched her temples with his hands. She moaned in pain at first touch, but slowly found her suffering easing up. "How long have I been here?"
Spock replied, gently, "You were abducted two weeks, four days, nineteen hours, forty six minutes, and 9.345 seconds ago."
She choked out a laugh and said, "I could have sworn it was 10.345 seconds." Spock pressed his forehead to hers and kissed her. "Can you get me out of here?" She asked. He studied the contraption which held her. It was a crude design and looked like something that might have been used in medieval times, bonding her at the wrists and ankles, but this thing was motorized and appeared to have a mechanic pulley designed into it, so it must have been a later model of whatever it was. He sighed and tilted his head, certain that he could think of something, with the proper amount of time to study the machinery.
A moment later, the electronic portion of the restrain came on and the chamber lifted her from the ground, to where she was elevated, only a bit from the ground. She winced at the pain that the motion caused, then made a confused face. Shortly afterward, she heard a zapping noise. Spock groaned and shook a bit, then hit the floor. He continued to tremble and she could tell that he was being electrocuted. His palms were touching the wet ground and the jolts of electricity rushing through him were excruciating. Spock fell to the floor completely, and the electrocution stopped. He took a moment to try to catch his breath.
Nyota looked at the camera and said, "Do not do this to him. I am the one that you are angry with. Punish me, not him! You coward!"
"Silence yourself, Nyota." She heard an unfamiliar tone of voice come from Spock. It was a pained one. She realized that she had never witnessed Spock in any physical pain before, and his pained voice startled her, not to mention, his choice of words. She stared at him. Spock looked at her from the floor and asked, "Would I suffer more enduring physical torture, or watching you endure it?" She did not answer the question, but sighed. Spock tried to pick himself up from the floor, but was greeted by another wave of electric currents. He groaned again, but quickly suppressed the sounds, as Nyota had been strong enough to stifle her howls of pain, he did not wish for her to see him less strong. She began to cry, now, although softly. It came out of her as easily as breath, seeing this happen to Spock, seeing him in this type of pain.
Livingston's distorted voice, affected from his earlier injury said, "I knew that I could make you cry," through the intercom. Spock stopped being electrocuted. Uhura tried to stop crying, but this was too much. Spock reached out and touched her feet with the tips of his fingers and she instantly felt his love for her. He wanted her to know that no matter what was being done to him, it would not change his love for her. If anything, he loved her more now than he did before her abduction.
He quickly withdrew his hand, for fear that if the electrocution began again, he may have her electrocuted, as well. The door opened and the guards collected Spock from the floor.
"I know that you will rescue me, Spock." She said, in Vulcan. He was carried away and Sybok entered the cell. She glared at him and asked, "How could you? I knew that you were a selfish bastard, but how could you just stand by while something like that happened to him? I have a younger brother, and if someone was torturing him, it would torture me inside to know it, to see it. You..." She realized that she was too exhausted to continue.
The contraption which held her captive lowered to the floor and the restraints around her wrists and ankles opened. She crashed to the floor and Sybok stepped aside to allow her to hit the wet floor with a loud, slapping thud. She pulled herself to try to sit up, but she was too weak to pull herself up far. She took a deep breath before Sybok grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out.
Nyota passed put before reaching the end of the hallway. When she awoke, she was being placed in a tub full of hot water and oils. Her eyes widened in surprise and she was greeted by three of her clones. She started at the sight of them.
"Please, remain calm, Prototype," one of them said. Nyota sighed and stared at them. Creepy. So creepy, but the water was soothing, and she relished the sensation of it. The clones cleaned her up, then dressed her in a cerulean gown. They guided her to a bedroom, with a tray of food waiting, and left her locked inside. Nyota stared at the food. It might not have been wise to eat it, but she had not eaten since being brought there and was only given sustenance in hypo spray shots while in that torture chamber. Her stomach yearned for food, and this was one of her favorite dishes, which she had not had in a while... shells and spicy salsa con queso, with sun ripened tomatoes and diced chicken. She grabbed the large bowl and the spoon and began to eat swiftly. She ate so fast that she thought that the food might all come back up. Then, she washed it down with the glass of bright purple fluid that she knew was a South African tea that Livingston introduced her to when they were together. After she ate, she sat still, wondering what the hell was next, for her.
Livingston massaged the temples of his head and stared at the body on the table before him. Nyota's face was a distorted mass of emotion. She fought the urge to cry as she looked at the skinless, dead horror which Livingston referred to as a "failed attempt". Moments before, the meaty skeleton had been moving, and screaming in pain. It was strapped down to the examination table and fiercely attempting to free itself from it. Nyota drove a medical knife through its heart. Livingston glared at her. Now, they both stared at it.
Nyota said, "You have to stop this. It is not working."
"I have to figure out what happened. I have to figure out why her skin separated from the rest of her. She was doing so well." Livingston removed the knife and began to work on her. "I may be able to revive her."
"Revive her? She did not seem like she was in enough pain when I killed her?" Nyota asked, angrily, but still sarcastic.
He threw another glare at her and asked, "Is this how you show your support? By pointing out my wrongs, despite the fact that you have no suggestions to rectify the situation?"
She took a deep breath and said, "Don't revive her. She will suffer."
"I have to figure out what went wrong." Livingston stated plainly as he attempted to revive the dead body, without so much as glancing at Nyota.
"Livingston, when I submitted my DNA, we signed a contract which stated that I could ask you to desist from the usage of my DNA in the event that I become uncomfortable with your usage of it. That event is on the horizon. Do not revive her!" She snapped.
Livingston placed the knife down next to the examination table and said, "By refusing to let me do so, you make the next attempt have a higher chance of a similar fate."
"Maybe there shouldn't be a next one, Livingston." She attempted, but he did not allow her to finish.
Livingston had a look in his eyes that Nyota had never before seen. He practically snarled, "You, the queen of not being told that she "can't," actually have the nerve to tell me that I can not do this?"
"I am not saying that you can't! I am saying that you shouldn't! When you create these clones, for no matter how long they survive, it is a person. You have managed to kill nine people, now."
"They were not people until I made them. The Lord giveth and taketh away, isn't that what you believe?" He asked.
"I believe that I no longer believe in what you are doing. I believe that this entire line of work is changing you for the worse." He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. She left, too... but went in an opposite direction.
Livingston entered the bedroom with his face tended to. She laughed and asked, "Kirk or Spock?"
He answered, "Spock. It will never fail to amaze me how easily you turn men's worlds upside down. Apparently, men of all races. I have never seen a Vulcan so passionate."
Nyota shrugged her shoulders and commented, "A psycho once told me that I made even him a better man."
Livingston stared at her and said, "I was once told, "That bitch does not want you for anything other than a decorated past." My mother really did not like you." He smirked.
She shrugged again and said, "And she doesn't have to, fortunately... What are you doing with Spock?"
Livingston answered, "You know, I did a great deal of research on Spock. I find it amazing how he managed to so thoroughly piss off a Romulan that he had the entire planet of Vulcan destroyed. I am glad that you brought him into our life. He is an interesting study. Besides, I have never experimented with half Vulcan, half human DNA. Being without you for so long will be worth it once I can tap into his genetic uniqueness."
"You are not planning on killing him, are you?" She asked, not a trace of fear in her tone, just interest, although her heart knew better. She was scared out of her mind for Spock's safety.
Livingston seemed to think deeply about her question. His response became, "Nyota, there once was a time when I believed that if I ever lost you, I would lose everything that meant anything to me. A day came when I did lose you, and I must admit that when that day came, I lost greatly. Yet, did I gain! I gained the ability not to care about what others thought was right or ethical. I lost the concern for people and the moral codes that held me back from reaching my full potential, in the name of science. Now, I must admit, that I have you to thank for the man who I ultimately have become."
Nyota shook her head, feigning amusement as she replied, "When you say these things, you say them as though you intend for them to be compliments, and yet..."
Livingston continued, as though she had said nothing, "I once thought that if I could not have you that no one could. I watched you for a great deal of time after we were apart, but when I had to flee from the Federation, it became difficult. I missed out on preventing you from this decision, and now you have a husband, a son."
"Two sons." She corrected, holding up the number of fingers.
"One with your husband. It bothers me that you never wanted to have children with me, but you would endure miscarriages to possibly have a little pointy ear creature come forth from you. How many miscarriages was it?"
"Shut up." She said, growing angry that he had the audacity to speak of this, and with such insensitivity.
Livingston smirked and said, "I can always have Sybok come in and pry the information from you. I can get him to make you think about it, for however long I wish. You will be surprised at the things that Vulcan can do when he puts his mind to it. Ha ha! Puts his mind to it, Nyota... you missed the joke. Oh, let's look and see what he is doing to your Spock." Livingston turned on a screen, and Nyota turned to it to see Spock.
Spock was strapped to an examination table, shirtless, with wires in his head and chest. The machine next to him was blinking red and Livingston commented, "His anger and sorrow levels are so high that the machine can not even pinpoint a measurement for them." Nyota winced, looking at Spock. Spock was not reacting, but, his breathing was difficult. Livingston added, "Sybok is placing some images in Spock's mind."
"Of what, may I ask?" She asked.
"Of you, with other men. Any other man, every other man. I asked Sybok to make the images as graphic as his imagination would allow. Sybok seems to think that although the images are forced and counterfeit, that Spock's Vulcan memory will automatically retain the images in his head. That is interesting, to me. I have an entire list full of things that I wish to try out on your Spock. Thank you, again for bringing him to me. In this particular test, Spock's temperature has become dangerously high as a result of the images, and this is the best part – he is in no position to meditate the thoughts out of his mind."
Nyota jumped up from the bed and walked over to Livingston. She placed her hands on his chest and said, "I know that you are mad at me, but your problem is with me, and not with Spock. Let him go. Let him get back to the ship and I will do whatever you want. I will stay here, I will beg, I will serve you, whatever it is that you want to do to get back at me... leave Spock out of this."
Livingston smirked, slightly, then slapped her in the face, which knocked her unto the bed. He climbed on her and wrapped his hands around her neck. She fought with him and punched him in his injured jaw, to which he howled and flipped her onto her stomach. He pulled at her dress and clawed down her already lashed back, which made her scream like a banshee. He pulled her up to where he had her head trapped into a hold by his arm and said, "You love him so much that you would sacrifice yourself for him? Nyota, before this is all over, you will watch me tear him apart, inch by inch. That is what I have to say about your proposition." Nyota reached behind her for his hair, and found it. She tugged at it, and refused to let it go. Then, she used her other arm to swing at his injured jaw again.
The door opened and Sybok grabbed Livingston off of Nyota and stood him to his feet, "What were you doing?" Sybok asked.
Livingston smiled at him and said, "It is rude not to knock."
"It is rude to put an injured woman in a choke hold." Sybok stated. Nyota simply stared at the two of them, her back was stinging from Livingston's abuse.
"Get back to Spock." Livingston said, dabbing at his injured jaw with a cloth, to absorb the bleeding.
"He has had enough." Sybok said, then looked at Nyota and added, "And so has she."
Livingston glanced at Nyota and nodded, "So she has, Sybok. So she has, for tonight." He left the room and Nyota sat up and looked at Sybok.
She asked, "Were you really placing the images in Spock's head of me with other men?"
"Yes, I was. He responded to it rather well." Sybok said, smiling.
"Rather well?" She asked, anger present in her tone.
"Yes. He might have killed someone if he were able to move." Nyota lunged at Sybok, but he merely placed a hand up to freeze her motions. "He was able to imagine what it would be like to see you with Ambassador Spock, with Vulrak, with Captain Kirk, with some engineer named Mr. Scott... do you know how many men Spock has suppressed his jealousy of? It was nearly unreal to sift through the number of times that he found himself jealous on account of you. I was delighted to find myself in that number."
"Trust me, he had nothing to be jealous about." She said.
Sybok placed his hands on her shoulders and told her, "Sit down." She sat. Sybok asked, "How is Styik?" She found herself thinking of Styik and she knew that Sybok was pulling the thoughts right from her mind, but she could not stop herself from thinking. Sybok eventually stopped reading her mind and sat next to her on the bed.
"Livingston is going to kill Spock, and you are just going to let him." She said, glaring at Sybok.
He answered, in certainty, "He will not kill Spock."
"What makes you think so?" She asked.
Sybok explained, "It is a condition that I have imprinted in Livingston's mind. He is not to kill any member of my family. His mind will not allow it. If he tries, he will have a mental break down. Livingston is a pained creature, full of hate and sorrow and rage. It is quite easy to control him. He longs for happiness. It is quite sad, to be honest. I find myself feeling exceptionally sorry for him."
She waved a hand and said, "To hell with him. Release Spock."
The statement struck laughter from Sybok, and he replied, "Release Spock and keep you? Come now, Sister. Surely you do not believe that Spock would allow it. He would stay here, suffering before leaving here without you. You should simply wait. All things come to an end, eventually."
"Stop hurting him." She said through her teeth.
Sybok smirked at her and said, "I am enthralled with how much you love each other. I find it difficult to control either of you, for the connection that you have to one another. There was a time when I would have sworn that it was not capable for Spock. I suggest that you think happy thoughts, Miss Uhura. Try not to focus on the pain too much, not while he needs mental comfort."
She glanced at the screen and jumped up from the bed when she saw Livingston in the room with Spock, "What is he doing?" She asked, completely shaken up by Livingston's closeness to her husband.
Sybok looked at the screen, jumped up from the bed and left, with Nyota following right behind him. They barged into the room with Spock and Livingston stared at them. Livingston asked, "Why did you bring unauthorized personnel into my laboratory, Sybok?" Nyota rushed over to Spock and reached for his hand. When she did, she received flashes of images from his mind... the aforementioned images. But, at her touch, Spock blinked his eyes and focused on her face. He glanced around the room, then pulled his hand away, she could not tell if it was out of anger at her, or fear of harming her.
Livingston frowned as Sybok ignored his question to ask, "What were you going to try to do to my brother?"
Livingston laughed, amused, and sinisterly, "Listen to you. My brother. When did you begin referring to him as that?" Livingston asked. Then he said, "You know Sybok, I thought that you and I saw eye to eye on this issue, but you are making it clear that you are going to allow your sentiments to interfere with our partnership. Spock will suffer and he will be tested and tested above and beyond what he is capable of enduring, and will ultimately be killed, and I have no room for interference." Livingston pressed a button on his belt and Sybok clenched his head and toppled over in pain. Nyota looked at Spock, who was squirming, attached to the examination table.
She called out, "Livingston, stop it! What are you doing to them?"
"I am merely producing a sound wave that you nor I can hear, but telepaths usually can. It is to free myself from Sybok's concentration on controlling me. Certainly you did not think that a man of my class of his own would enter into a partnership with someone who could so easily control me without a proper failsafe? Tell me that you have more confidence in my level of intelligence. Since your betrayal, Nyota, I do not trust anyone. Thank you again for the man that I have become." She tried to unstrap Spock from the table, but Livingston came at her.
She grabbed a needle near the examination table and shot Livingston with hypo spray. She did not even know what was in it, but decided that it was near, so it was the best choice of weapon. She also quickly deduced that since it was located next to Spock, it probably was not for health. Livingston winced when she injected him, slapped the shot from her hand, then fell to the floor. Nyota bent down and removed his belt. She began to press buttons on it until Spock and Sybok appeared to no longer be in pain. Sybok stumbled over and helped her to unstrap Spock. She asked, "Out of a matter of curiosity, what did I inject him with?"
"A hallucinogen." Sybok answered.
"Is it in Spock's system, too?"
"No, we had not reached that point in the test yet." He pulled Spock up from the table and said, "Livingston will be up within minutes. You have to go."
"And what are you doing?" She asked.
"I have to retrieve my son." Sybok answered.
Nyota hoisted Spock on her shoulder and asked, "How well can you walk?" He did not answer, but merely pulled himself up to walk and began walking, quickly.
She rushed beside him and said, "Maybe we should run."
"We are not currently sure of where to run to." He said.
She heard Livingston groaning behind them and she answered, "Wherever." She began to run. Spock caught her by the wrist and said, "We do not need to separate."
"He will have reinforcements coming in, Spock." She urged, but he gently took her hand and began to lead her out, another way. She asked, "How do you know where you are going?"
"I think that Sybok planted the layout in my mind." He answered.
She paused. "How can you know that he is not setting you up for a trap?"
"I can not know this, however. If we wandered around the prison, lost, it would make no difference, as we would most likely be caught again, still." She nodded.
Nyota was rushing behind Spock when she felt something sharp pierce her in her side. She yelped and stopped moving. Spock turned to see her. She collapsed to her knees and held her side with one hand. She was bleeding, a great deal. There was a blade in her side. Before Spock realized it, Livingston had swung at him. He, of course dodged the hit and began to fight with Livingston, although Livingston could not easily apply any hit to him. Nyota looked at her wound, and could not believe that Livingston had sneaked up on her to stab her like that. Why did Spock not hear him? She watched Spock beating Livingston, viciously, for a moment, then she fell unconscious.
Livingston rushed to the table and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled, slightly at him and he waved over the waiter as he apologized, "I really hate the fact that I am late. I know that things have been weird between us lately, and I really had no intention of being late on tonight, because I wanted to spend as much time kissing your feet as I could."
She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I am not bothered. I had a chance to listen to some alien music. This is a very nice place. I feel a little bad that we met here, but I guess it's better than doing this in an unattractive place."
Livingston froze as the waiter came to the table, and hardly noticed the man there as he asked, "What are you intending to do?"
The waiter glanced at their faces, then said, "I will come back in a moment."
Nyota took a sip of her drink and said, "Livingston, things have not just been weird between us, they have been bad. I just don't think that either of us is what the other one needs, not now, and possibly not in the future."
He stared at her for a long time, then finally said, "You must be joking."
"My mother has been planning our wedding. I really would not joke about such a thing. I could understand you getting lost in your work. You are passionate about it, just as passionate as I am about my own, but you seem to be possessed sometimes, and I feel like I don't even know who you are anymore. You are not the same guy whose father mentored my father early in my father's career. You are not the same boy who once told me that I was lucky to have a Baba and to stop being so bullheaded, before you pushed me down into the mud, then apologized to me by bringing me wildflowers. You are not the same man who came to our home, in Tanzania, years later to see how we were doing because you had been in South Africa with your mother for all of that time and had only just started venturing out on your own." She smiled, but he was still scowling. "You aren't the boy that I grew up being slightly uncomfortable about thinking that my Baba liked you more than me because you were so smart and because you were Dr. Kurok's son. You aren't even the man that I fell in love with and became engaged to. But, most importantly, I have changed, since then."
Livingston stared at her, then waved the waiter back over to order a drink. He needed one, no, he needed two. He ordered the entire bottle of "the strongest liquor that you have". When the waiter left, he said, "You have not changed much, Nyota. You still are selfish and immature about other people's emotions. You have always wanted someone to respect how you felt. When we were younger, I tried to be sure to pay special attention to you, so that you would not feel ignored, but that was not enough, you wanted me gone. When my mother moved back to South Africa and took me with her, I thought that you would be relieved that I was gone, then you contact me about not keeping in touch with you. So, I try to keep in touch with you, then you complain about my not visiting. So eventually, I visit, then you tell me that I should take you somewhere nice sometime, hell, up until that point, Nyota, I had always thought that you saw me like a pesky stepbrother. Then, when we are involved, there has never been any room for flexibility with your life. I have done everything in my power to make you happy and to try to keep you happy, and I have accepted your many rejections of my own wishes and dreams to be with you..."
"Livingston, I am sorry that you feel this way, but maybe this is just further indication that I am not what you need."
"That is a fucking excuse!" He snapped at her, which caused a few people to turn towards their table.
Nyota's face grew hot, "Keep it down..."
"Do you love me, Nyota? Did you ever? Because I have loved you since we were children! I have loved you since I began to realize what a female was! And I need to know if you love me?"
"I do... but that is not what this is about?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. Livingston, no matter how much we have been through, it will not change the fact that I can not be happy with you. Being with you has almost become like, like a prison."
Livingston scoffed. "I don't think you could ever be happy with someone who actually loves you. You want a man that you could discard at any time without having to feel guilty about it. You have been doing this to boys since you first learned to bat your pretty little lashes and you have done it to several men and now, apparently will have several more to do it to." The waiter returned to the table and Livingston snatched the bottle from his hand and opened it. He began to drink directly from the bottle.
Nyota stood up and patted his shoulder, "I do not want to lose you as a friend. We have known each other too long to..."
"Don't touch me. Get out of my face." Nyota threw both of her hands up in surrender and walked away.
Nyota looked about her and realized that she was on the ship, in the medical area. She saw Nurse Chapel's face, first and the woman smiled warmly at her, "Ah, there she is, Dr. McCoy." Nyota felt as though her eyes were spinning in her head. She tried to focus, but could not seem to.
Dr. McCoy explained, "You are probably still under the influence of the pain medication that I gave you when I patched you up. That was quite a stab wound, to say that it was done with a simple medical knife. We also tended to the welts on your back." She shut her eyes, feeling all too dizzy from attempting to focus.
"Where is Spock?" She asked.
"He is still inside. The captain, Spock and others are getting the prison back in order. The captain took some of the rightful guards of the place back in with him to help him find you two, and apparently all kinds of pandemonium broke out. That was after Spock managed to get you back to the ship, though."
"What about Sybok and Livingston?"
"Where Sybok is has not yet been determined. Livingston is the in Enterprise morgue."
Now, Nyota's eyes flew open and she found herself spontaneously able to focus enough to wrestle her way out of the bed. Dr. McCoy tried to force her back into it, but she shook her head and said, "I have to see. I have to see it."
"Then, I'll walk with you. Talk about ridiculous. Does anyone on this damned ship care about their own well being?"
She and Dr. McCoy walked to the morgue and he warned her, "You may not be able to recognize him." He pressed a button and a drawer opened with a body on a slab with a clear glass cover slid out. She studied it. He really was not recognizable.
She took a deep breath and asked, "Did Spock do this?"
Dr. McCoy said, "That seems to be the most logical explanation, but he has not made any comments about the issue. He simply ordered me to contact Starfleet command and inform them that the war criminal Livingston Kurok was dead and that we had custody of his body, but I tell you, Lt. Uhura, he looked slightly embarrassed when he said it." She pressed the button for the drawer to enclose the body again.
"Do you think that he will get in trouble for this?"
"I think that they will be so glad that Kurok is no longer a threat that it will hardly be investigated."
"What about his mother? She will demand an investigation and the moment that she finds out that I was there..."
"You need to not worry about any of that. Even with an investigation, Livingston Kurok was a murderer and a terrorist. There is not one investigator who will not believe that his death was necessary given the circumstances."
"Even though Spock could have subdued him within seconds with a neck pinch?"
"Stop worrying, and get back to bed."
"I have to contact my family, and tell them that I am okay."
"You can do that from the infirmary!" He fussed, gently taking her arm and leading her back to the medical bay.
Yakpazauh would be coming back to New Vulcan to see Nyota, alive and well. Toimu was excited to see her again. The children were both visibly pleased that she was on her way home. Mwinyi was relieved that it was all over. Everyone on the ship was elated to have both Uhura and Spock on the ship again, even if only temporary, and she could not have been more happy about the fact that she was out of Livingston's clutches. She stayed in their old quarters most of the trip, as she was not really up for much work in her condition. Spock spent a great amount of time on the bridge, and still had said nothing to her about what happened to Livingston, although when the body was taken through the appropriate channels, it seemed all but implied that no one would make an issue of the cause of death. Everyone kept seeming to conclude that he was killed during a riotous outbreak that occurred when the guards were brought back in for an emergency take over. After all, there were other casualties: several members of the Enterprise security personnel, several of the prisoners themselves, and even some of the rightful guards of the prison had been trampled over when the gas was consuming the oxygen in the building and the chaotic prisoners began to run about. Nyota shook her head at the thought. damn Livingston, all of that on a few hurt feelings. He was not just in a class of his own as a genius. He was in a class of his own as a madman.
When they approached New Vulcan, she was on the bridge. She and Chekov spent a few hours talking, and the other crew members chimed in here and there. Kirk allowed it, as they were about to have to bid her and Spock farewell, again. Now that the mission was over, Spock was no longer required on the ship, for now. The time came for them to make their way to the transporter room. Kirk walked with them. She studied Spock's face as they walked and Kirk talked to the two of them about needing them to hurry up and "get that godson of mine big enough to be on the ship". Spock did not offer any argument to the illogicalness of the statement. He happened to deem it so illogical that it was not worthy of refutation. Nyota hugged Kirk and stepped onto the transporter pad. Spock stepped on as well and when they materialized on the surface of New Vulcan, Nyota was nearly pulled down to the ground with hugs from her family.
Once they finished with all of this, she looked at her Vulcan family, who had been off to the side, and Spock had joined them. Each of them gave her a nod, but none of them came over, and all of them soon left, including Spock. They walked away together, and she wondered where they were headed. It threw her off, but she lost focus on them when Styik handed Sytar to her. She was so happy to see her children that she began to just be affectionate with them for a while longer. When she looked up again, Spock and the other Vulcans were nowhere in sight.