Ch 15: Blood Fever
"When that green-blooded pain in the ass comes to, remind me to sock him in the face for not coming to me sooner."
McCoy turned around to face Chapel and a now clothed Kirk, anger plain on his face. He jabbed a finger at the screen that displayed the results from Spock's blood test. "I've officially identified the aphrodisiac as an extract from a Felisian plant known as Liliandra's Rose. It's been used by female Felisian mercenaries for years to sway enemies to their side temporarily in order to assist them as needed with their missions. They use it only if their natural feminine charm doesn't work, but coat their nails with it just in case it's needed. In more recent times it's been used by Felisian prostitutes for rather obvious reasons…
"As I suspected, the sunscreen was the source of the quarternium, which is what caused Spock's initial sensitivity to any and all things that touched him. Quarternium normally causes contact dermatitis, but with Spock's mixed heritage, it simply made his skin very sensitive to the touch. However, Spock is no longer exhibiting signs of the skin sensitivity; rather he's running a very high fever, something that can't be caused by the quarternium itself.
"Now that I finally got a chance to take a sample of Spock's blood without him punching someone, I found another chemical from the sunscreen in his blood that the Feinberger didn't pick up on when I scanned him back on Kalthoria. The database labels it as Krypton Aurochloride, a man made chemical with no real documented usability. For whatever reason it was mixed in with the sunscreen and acted as a catalyst between the quarternium and the aphrodisiac after Spock was scratched, creating something completely different and unidentifiable.
"Whatever this compound is, it triggered some kind of reaction in Spock's body. The compound isn't as potent as it was when Spock was first scratched, so to some degree, his body is breaking it down. Fortunately it isn't doing any damage to his body; physically, aside from his high temperature, he's perfectly healthy. It seems the effects are proving to be more psychological, hence his uncharacteristic behavior."
Kirk blinked at McCoy. He was considered a genius, but what McCoy said made no sense. "So, basically, in far too many words, you're telling me what I knew on Kalthoria; that the sunscreen mixing with the aphrodisiac from that Felisian woman's nails has caused Spock to go nuts?"
McCoy sighed in annoyance. "In a very simplistic manner, yes, that's what I said. I can devise an antidote from the sample of blood I have, but I can't guarantee that will correct the symptoms Spock is currently suffering from. The most it will do is clear the compound out of his system faster than his body is currently expelling it. While I'm doing that Nurse Chapel, I'll need you to figure out just what's going on with Spock."
"You know," Chapel said, "I think I've heard of something similar to what Mr. Spock is experiencing. I can't remember what it's called, but it causes Vulcans to become completely erratic and somewhat dangerous to be around. I really wish I could remember what it was called…it's on the tip of my tongue… I think it started with a 'p'?"
Kirk's eyes grew wide as Spock Prime's memories flashed before him. He thought they had faded away after Spock's personalities were merged, but it seems he was wrong. In his mind's eye, he saw a bowl of soup being thrown against a wall and a blonde woman, whom he presumed was Chapel, being yelled at by Spock. The images began to grow hazy as they flashed by his eyes. There were blurbs of outbursts similar to what he had seen from his own Spock, a trip to Vulcan, a Vulcan ceremony that involved his other self and Spock Prime fighting to the death…
In an instant the cause of Spock madness came to him. He whispered, "Pon farr…"
"Pon what? What are you talking about Jim?" Kirk simply stared blankly into space and remained silent. McCoy reached out to Kirk and shook his shoulders with his one good hand. "Jim!"
McCoy's voice cut through Kirk's thoughts. He blinked rapidly and stared at McCoy, who was giving him a very concerned look. "Are you alright Jim? Please don't tell me I have to treat you as a patient too..."
"Huh? Oh…no…" Kirk said, biting his lip. "I, uh, I just saw some more of Prime's memories."
McCoy raised an eyebrow at Kirk. "I thought you got rid of those when Spock merged with his alter egos? If you've been hiding something from me…"
"I've been hiding nothing from you Bones; I thought they were gone too." Kirk spat irritably, looking at Spock's unconscious body lying on the bed. "Obviously we both thought wrong. I guess they were just pushed to the back of my mind like any normal memory…"
McCoy snorted. Chapel whacked him on the arm to shush him, earning a glare from the chief medical officer. She glared back before turning her attention Kirk, who had moved to Spock's side and was holding his hand gently.
"I know what he's going through," Kirk said. "It's called pon farr…"
Chapel's face lit up when she heard the Vulcan words. "That's it!" she said, pointing at Kirk. "That's the word I was thinking of! It's a Vulcan condition that they all go through that…" she paused as she remembered just what pon farr wasand what it entailed. "Wait…if he's suffering from pon farr then that means…"
"We have to get him to New Vulcan." Jim murmured, not taking his eyes off Spock. "Something's going wrong with his pon farr. It should have dissipated by now. The chemical in his blood might be complicating things. I don't know when exactly it was triggered, but if we don't get him there fast, he'll die."
McCoy and Chapel exchanged a look. McCoy walked over to his best friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "You'd better inform Starfleet about the change of course," he said. "If you say he needs to get to New Vulcan, we should go there immediately. We don't want our favorite Vulcan keeling over on us."
Kirk nodded and lifted Spock's hand to his lips, kissing the Vulcan's knuckles gently. "Hang in there, Spock… we'll get you the help you need…"
Though he was unconscious, Spock's alter egos heard what was said and now knew exactly what was wrong. Pon farr? That's what he's going through? Son of a… Gabriel directed his anger at Spock's younger self. You knew! You had to have known! Why the hell didn't you tell me he was going through his pon farr?!?
What good would it have done to tell you? Spock's Vulcan half asked with a hint of exasperation in his voice. There's nothing neither you nor I can do about it. He may be able to tap into our individual personality traits when he's conscious, but in his current state we can't do anything. Trying to influence him would be as useful as talking to a wall.
Damn it! Gabriel shouted. What good is it for us to be merged with him if we can't do a damned thing when shit like this happens?
It seems to me you're only upset because you are unable to regain full control of his body to do as you see fit…
Hey, don't go getting all snotty with me you little Vulcan runt, Gabriel sneered. You're not much better than I am. As I recall you were the reason Spock was the cold hearted bastard he was up until we were merged together! Do you have any idea how many regrets he has because of you?!?
Now is not the time for us to argue! The young Vulcan said, his voice rising in anger. Right now Spock is tapping into his more savage behaviors and is completely beyond our reach. The only thing we can do now is pray they get him to Vulcan on time…
They both felt Spock's consciousness slowly returning to him.
Gabriel swore. Looks like Mr. Hyde is about to show his ugly face again…
Kirk turned away from Spock and began walking toward the door. He had to get to the bridge quickly and have a course set for New Vulcan as soon as possible. Just as he reached the door, Spock's eyes opened. Though his gaze was still vacant, there was purpose clear in his expression. Looking at the restraints that held him to the bed, he mustered his strength and ripped them off his arms completely before rising to get up from the bed.
"JIM!" McCoy shouted as he and Chapel both tried to hold Spock down. Kirk whirled around and gasped at the sight before him. McCoy was knocked back against the wall by the Vulcan's immense strength. He howled in pain as he hit his broken hand against the wall. Sliding down to the floor, he held his bandaged hand close to his chest and glared through watering eyes and gritted teeth at Spock. Kirk managed to rush to Chapel's side just as Spock moved to push her too.
"SPOCK!" Kirk shouted. Spock's hand froze inches away from Chapel. His glazed over eyes shifted to Kirk and fixated on him. Kirk pushed Chapel back and grabbed on to Spock, trying with all his might to push Spock down on the bed. "You will stay here in sick bay until we reach New Vulcan, you hear me? That's an order!"
Unlike the first time Kirk had ordered Spock that day, Spock did not comply. Instead, he reached out and shoved Kirk as hard as he could, which sent Kirk flying across the sick bay. When he landed on the floor he skidded on his back into a wall, hitting his head as he collided with it. Stars flashed before his eyes from the sharp pain in the back of his head.
The first thing he saw when he reopened his eyes was Spock towering ominously over him. His blazing hot hands reached down to grab him, but Kirk managed to meet them with his own hands. "No!" he shouted. "You're not carting me off again like some caveman with his mate! I have to get to the bridge!"
Fiery hands fought with icy cold hands as Kirk tried in vain to keep Spock away from him. The Vulcan's strength and swiftness turned out to be far more than Kirk could match. Kirk's arms were shoved away and before he could bring them back to continue his fight against Spock, he was hoisted over Spock's shoulder for the second time that day.
Kirk kicked and flailed. He had to do something, anything to make it harder for Spock to carry him off. When Spock walked through the sick bay door, Kirk grabbed onto the doorway and held on for dear life. Perhaps if he could fall out of Spock's grip, he could manage to make a break for the bridge. Sadly his grasp of the doorway was quickly broken after Spock pulled his lower half forward with all his strength.
Chapel rushed to the door and looked down the hall as Kirk slowly disappeared into the distance. He cried out to her, "Chapel! Help McCoy to get that antidote started! The sooner we get it done the sooner we can see if we can get this damned compound out of his system!"
Two hours later, Kirk found himself hating sex for the first time in his life. At this rate he wouldn't be able to sit comfortably for a full month. At least Spock wore himself out faster than the last time. His body ached so much and had so many new painful marks on it he didn't even have the strength to wash himself of the sticky sweat and fluids on his body.
I got to get him to New Vulcan, he thought to himself as he wormed his exhausted body from underneath the unconscious Spock and put his clothes on again. He didn't care that he smelled of sex or that his clothes clung nastily to his moist body or even that in Spock's haste to undress him, he had ripped the shoulder of his tunic almost completely off. The only thing that mattered was getting to the bridge and getting to New Vulcan as swiftly as possible.
He stumbled out of the room and lumbered down the hall to the elevator, ignoring the strange looks and wrinkled noses of the crew members he passed. There was no doubt that rumors would be circulating the entire ship if they weren't already, but he didn't care. The only thing he cared about was getting in touch with Spock Prime and getting Spock back to normal.
The elevator ride was far too short for the weary captain who stumbled out of it onto the bridge. He was met with even more strange looks from his crew members. Breathing hard and continuing to ignore the looks, he lumbered toward the helm and said, "Sulu…set a course…to New Vulcan…max warp. Get us there as…as fast…as you can."
"Uh, sir?" Sulu asked with a skeptical look on his face. "Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah, you look like hell," Uhura said, adding quickly, "and smell like it too…no offense…"
Kirk fell into his chair and sighed tiredly. "You have no idea. Only thing I can say right now is that we have an emergency concerning Mr. Spock. We need to get him to New Vulcan immediately."
"Does eet hawe to do with ze scratch he receiwed on Kalthoria?" Chekov asked.
Wearily, Kirk nodded. "Yes Mr. Chekov, it does. So please, get us there quickly. Uhura, notify Starfleet and inform them that we're changing our current course to New Vulcan. Tell them that it is imperative that we…"
The sound of the elevator door opening behind him instantly cut him off. He didn't need to turn around to know exactly who it was; he could tell who it was by the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Sure enough, when he turned in his chair, he saw Spock, clad only in his underwear. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand. At least he had the decency to put something on instead of just lumbering out naked.
Bitterly, he thought to himself: Well, if anything was going to prove how badly we need to get him to New Vulcan, this is it.
Spock's eyes locked on to Kirk in his captain's chair and with the movements of a robot, he walked toward him. Kirk saw him approach in just enough time to spin out of the chair away from him. He faced Spock and held his hands up toward him as if to push him away. "Now Spock, I think you and I have had enough extracurricular activities for the day. Surely you're exhausted! Why don't you just go back to the room and get some rest, huh?"
The vacant look in his eyes and continued forward movement toward Kirk showed that Kirk's words hadn't reached him. Kirk backed into the console where Chekov and Sulu sat and looked for a potential escape route. He spotted a greater space to his left and pushed off the console into that direction. Spock proved to be much faster and wrapped his arms around Kirk's waist, lifting him off the ground.
Kirk kicked his feet and flailed his arms, struggling to wiggle out of Spock's iron grip. "No!" he shouted. "Let me go you crazed horn ball! Let me go! That's an order!"
Once again Kirk was flung over Spock's shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes and carried him back toward the elevator. He screamed as he was carted away, "SULU! GET US TO NEW VULCAN NOW!!!!" Before the elevator door closed on him and Spock, he yelled to Uhura, "Uhura! Notify Starfleet! As soon as we're in transmission range, contact Spock Prime and tell him the situation!"
When the elevator door closed, everyone on the bridge looked at each other in mute shock. The scene they had just witnessed couldn't really have just happened…could it? Nonetheless, they all turned to their stations and made preparations to get to New Vulcan as fast as the Enterprise could without flying apart.
Kirk cried softly as he curled himself into a ball. This time it only took one round for Spock to tap out. Kirk decided it would be best to stay in the room, since apparently his escape acted as sexual trigger for Spock. It was official. He hated sex. Whenever this whole pon farr thing ended, he was never going to have sex again. Not with a female, not with a male, not even with an amorphous blob. He had more sex in the last twelve hours than he did during his freshman year at the Academy, and he had been very active during his freshman year.
Uhura's voice crackled over the intercom: Captain? I've notified Captain Pike of the situation. He's given us approval to head there and is forwarding the information to the other Starfleet leaders. We've just reached transmission range of New Vulcan. I've sent communication to Spock Prime and he's requesting to talk with you directly. If you're in a decent enough condition to speak, I can transfer the transmission to your telecomm.
Groaning, Kirk uncurled himself and sat up on the bed. He pushed up from the bed and clomped over to his intercom. Thumbing the button, he rasped, "Transfer it."
The telecomm on his desk lit up with green text that read "Incoming Transmission". He dragged himself across the room and dropped into the chair in front of it. After pressing the button to accept the transmission, he was welcomed with the wrinkled face of Spock Prime. He gave a weak half-smile and said, "Hello Prime, or should I refer to you as Surok on this channel?"
Prime chuckled and said, "Prime will be fine Jim. The transmission was routed to my personal telecomm in my home; you caught me on my day off."
"Ah, crap, I'm sorry Prime," Kirk apologized.
"Think nothing of it," Prime smiled. "It is always good to hear from you. I regret that it is usually under dire circumstances. Lieutenant Uhura made mention of Spock being in a rather compromised condition. Would you care to elaborate?"
Kirk cut right to the chase with his explanation. Prime had already been informed by Spock a year ago that they were engaged, so that part didn't need to be explained. As requested, he kept this information secret from Sarek, who also knew Prime's true identity and on many occasions came to him to discuss matters concerning Spock. Kirk told him about the trip to Kalthoria to celebrate the year they had been engaged, told him about the suspicious sunscreen Spock put on despite his admonitions, the scratch from the female Felisian, and the ensuing chaos that followed. Prime listened patiently with a stoic expression on his face, processing the information in his mind as he received it.
When Kirk finished his explanation, Spock reviewed the information he had just received in abundance. "The compound in Spock's blood has triggered his pon farr, which was not meant to happen for a few more years. In addition, the compound is wrecking havoc with his body and has turned him into the equivalent of a zombie who craves only one thing: sex with his mate. Currently Doctor McCoy is trying to create an antidote for the compound since Spock's current state is keeping it from fully dissipating from his body, but since he is now under the influence of the plak tow, removing the compound from his blood alone will not correct the problem."
"That about sums it up," Kirk said. "I don't know what kind of progress McCoy's making, but at the moment, we need help figuring out how to get Spock to snap out of his plak tow. What I don't get is why despite how much we've been…well…you know…he hasn't snapped out of it, but rather has gotten worse!"
Prime thought about it for a moment and then said, "It is possible that the compound is preventing him from being satiated as he normally would be after mating with his chosen. If that is the case, it is imperative that you come here so that I can assist McCoy in creating the antidote and keep him sedated until then. From what you've told me, Spock does not have much time left. However, there may be one additional problem…"
Kirk paled at the thought of there being yet another factor keeping Spock from getting better. He swallowed hard and asked, "What's that?"
To his surprise, Prime actually turned a light shade of green. "Jim, this is an extremely personal question, but in order to assess the problem with Spock, I will require an honest answer." Kirk nodded his approval of Prime's request. Whatever it is he needed to know, he was willing to provide whatever information he could.
Taking deep breath, as if to gather his courage to ask the question, Prime asked, "What position do the two of you have sex in?"
Kirk blinked. What the hell did their position have to do with Spock's pon farr? "Uh, not that you really want to know this, but we've done it in just about every position he could possibly put me in. Hell, if he could tie me into a pretzel and do it that way he would."
Prime continued to blush and shook his head. "That was not what I meant, but your answer told me what I needed to know. If I am correct, you are the one on the receiving end when he initiates sex?"
It was Kirk's turn to blush. As much as he enjoyed it, it was still kind of embarrassing to be in the "bottom" position whenever they had sex. "Uh, yeah. He's always been the one on top and I've always been on the bottom." Mumbling, he added, "Guess that's his way of getting revenge for losing the captain's seat…"
"There is your problem," Prime stated with a very matter of fact tone and a bright green face. "As much as you both enjoy Spock being in the 'top' position, it is not as it should be. For his pon farr to be satisfied, he will need to be in the 'bottom' position, with you in the 'top'."
When Kirk realized what it was that Prime was saying, he had to stifle a laugh to avoid laughing at the quite embarrassed older Vulcan. He cleared his throat and said, "So, you're telling me that in order for this whole pon farr thing to blow over, and you'll have to excuse me for being blunt and crude, Spock is the one that needs to get fucked in the ass, not me?"
Prime's face was now as green as the unconscious Spock on Kirk's bed. "As vulgar as your explanation is, inevitably that is indeed the case. Though my first pon farr dissipated after I thought I had killed my Jim, the subsequent pon farrs that were spent with Jim had me in the receiving position and were only dispelled if that were the case."
Kirk held his laughter in, but couldn't keep himself from smirking smarmily at Prime. "Prime," Kirk said, "You've just given me the best news of the night. We'll be at New Vulcan shortly; be prepared to receive us. Kirk out."
The screen displayed the green words "Transmission terminated" as Kirk let out the laughter he almost released in Prime's face. The pain in his body was now worth feeling as he let himself laugh loudly. After laughing for a few minutes he wiped the tears from his face and turned toward the still sleeping Spock. He went over to him and kissed him on the cheek.
"Just you wait Spock," he said, grinning evilly. "When we get that compound out of your system, I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine…"
__
Author's note. Spock Prime's alias of "Surok" was originally found in jenlynn820's fic "The Human Heart" on LiveJournal. Go read it, it's good!