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Chapter Four
Indescribable
"They are creating a singularity that will consume the planet."
"They are creating a black hole at the center of Vulcan."
"Yes, sir."
How long does the planet have left?"
"Minutes, sir. Minutes."
As calculated, minutes later all that was left of the planet Vulcan was a ragtag fleet of ships that had managed to evacuate the planet just in time.
It was unclear how many Vulcans had survived the genocide, but the majority of the planet's six billion inhabitants did not make it.
It was a tragedy by which the likes has never been seen before by the Federation. It was almost unimaginable.
Spock had been standing on the surface for the last time, just before its destruction, and for the first time in years since his choice of Starfleet over the Science Academy and the fighting with his father that had followed that decision.
He had beamed down to save the Elders, who would have been out of transporter range if not for him leading them from the Katrik Arc. By saving them, he saved the essence of Vulcan culture. His father had been among them, but his mother had not.
As he worried about her whereabouts while waiting to be beamed up, the world he had grown up on crumbled around him. The ground rippled and shook, and the cliff side they had been standing near succumbed to the seismic distress. It was fortunate that no one had been standing near it.
More lives had been saved then there would have been if not for the warning sent by the unknown man held prisoner on the Romulan ship. Many ships had already left the planet, wanting to be safe in orbit until whatever was causing the seismic activity back down on the surface was resolved.
Nyota Uhura, Spock's close (and only) friend and star student, had caught the warning the prisoner on the bridge of the Romulan ship had shouted. He had spoken in a rarely used Cardassian accent, according to Nyota, which is why it had not been picked up by universal translators.
The prisoner human had warned them that the plan of the Romulans was to destroy Vulcan.
"Evacuate Vulcan! They are going to destroy it and kill everyone! Revenge! They are going to destroy the planet! The drill! It may be too late! Vulcan is going to…"
With this information they were able to send a team of three cadets, Sulu, Giotto, and Olsen (who did not survive the drop due to his own error in his calculations), to disable the drill. As soon as they did, Nyota flooded all communication channels on Vulcan to immediately evacuate.
Soon after the Romulan ship launched an object into the hole they had drilled. Soon after the readings of the planet started to fluctuate greatly, and the Enterprise and her crew came to a realization that not only was it true that Nero and his crew were trying to destroy the planet, but they were doing so by creating a black hole at the center, using the hole they had drilled, and that the prisoner's hypothesis was correct. It was indeed too late to stop it.
Many ships managed to escape the planet and the pull of the black hole. A greater number, one could argue, then there would have been if the mysterious prisoner had not been able to give either of his warnings.
Now he was standing on the bridge, not entirely sure how he got there, greeted by the sight of his planet collapsing in on itself. Consumed by the singularity within.
The whole experience was entirely… indescribable.
It was almost… overwhelming.
Despite his years of practicing emotional suppression, he could not help but feel.
Pain, fear, hurt, agony, depression, anger, rage. All coursed freely within him now, and all he could managed was keep watching, until every last trace of his planet was gone and not a trace remained.
Only after did he look to his father, who had followed him onto the bridge wordlessly. His father, sensing his look, returned the gaze. An unsaid question hung between them, understood through the long neglected bond of father and son.
Is Mother alive?
His father nodded confirmation.
She is.
His father could feel it through the bond they shared.
Relief flooded into Spock, blocking many other emotions. He looked back at the viewer, searching for the small collection of ships that huddled together, knowing his mother must be somewhere among them.
It would be later on that he discovered she was there because she had volunteered to go to an orphanage in the city near where they lived when the first warnings about the danger had been sent out. His father had elected to join the other elders.
The relief, though, could not stay the strongest feeling in his mind, though, as the emptiness that was once the ever constant presence of Vulcan, on which all Vulcans were connected to and centered by, took over.
With already present loss of control of his emotions, when this hit he could not suppress it in time before he winced.
The want to have an emotional outburst was strong. To collapse in grief or lash out in anger, or cry in despair. But Spock fought, harder than ever, to suppress them.
He had a duty as captain.
He had a duty as the highest ranking Federation officer present, to protect his crew and the survivors
Such emotions were illogical and unwelcome.
He must suppress them, as he has been trained. As was the way of his people. His culture.
A culture that now belonged to an endangered species, and was thus endangered itself, therefore should be preserved and upheld.
Upheld despite the painful emptiness Spock fought to not feel.
He had to uphold it.
To maintain control.
He needed to.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Have you confirmed that they are headed for Earth?" Spock managed to ask.
"Yes, Keptin. Their trajectory suggests no other destination."
"What if Earth is their next target?" Said Sulu.
"It is safe to assume that all the federation may be targets." Spock answered.
"If that is so, why did they not attack us?" Ask Chekov.
"We were no match for them." McCoy answered. "Probably didn't want to waste a bullet."
"That is not it." Spock said. "Nero said he wanted me to see something. The destruction of my home planet."
"And how the hell did they manage that anyway?"
"The technology needed to manufacture a black hole may suggest the answer: such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through time and space."
"Dammit man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist. What the hell are you suggesting?" McCoy asked.
"They are from the future?" Chekov asked.
"If you eliminate the possible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Spock stated.
"And now they are headed to Earth…"
"And they have Captain Pike."
Spock nodded. "As a high ranking member of Starfleet he has knowledge of Starfleet's defenses. Access codes. Planetary defense will not hold when, not if, they get the information out of Pike."
"If they are from the future do we even have a chance? Why would they do something so extreme if they didn't know for sure that they were going to caught?"
"You're assuming Nero knows exactly how events are predicted to unfold. The contary: Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history - thereby creating a new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party."
"An alternate reality." Uhura said, stunned.
"Precisely. Whatever lives we might have lived, if the time continuum was disrupted... our destinies are changed."
"Then what do we do?"
"Pike left us standing orders to rendezvous with the fleet at the other side of the quadrant. It is also our duty as Federation members to escort the remaining Vulcans to their safety until further decisions are made. Mr. Sulu, plot a course for the Laurentian system."
"But what if Earth…" McCoy tried to interrupt. His hesitation, Spock could sense, was shared by others.
"Our crew is currently working on repairing the damage we suffered from the attack. We are in no condition to do otherwise. If there are any other objections I will note in in the report. For now, carry out orders as instructed."
"But…"
"Were my orders clear?"
"Aye, Keptin."
"Yes, Sir."
"Course laid in."
"Engage."
End of Chapter
"History,' Mari muttered, as if she'd overheard his thoughts. 'Why do we need to know what happened before we were born?''So hopefully we get smarter and don't make the same mistakes again."
-The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima