AN: One more chapter left after this one… I think. Probably…. No, defiantly. One more chapter. Enjoy my last hurrah for adventure!!!
2258 – November 8th 2300 Hours
Spock opened his eyes. He had overheard Jim and Uhura discussing Christmas gifts with one another in the Mess as he ate his dinner. The small portion of the conversation he had heard got his mind spinning. He had nothing for Chris. As he recalled from their MindMeld she had a gift for him, memories of his mother to share. Yet he had nothing for her.
The year before they had not exchanged significant gifts. He had gifted her with a small Romulan Cultural text, she had gifted him with a text on Earth Marine Life. Uhura had gifted him with a sweater, a kiss, and a text on Swahili Culture and Language. He had given her three texts on Vulcan Culture that could not be acquired anywhere but on Vulcan.
However he believed gifts of such a nature, impersonal if thoughtful, would not do. Chris' gift to him was acquired at great risk to herself and was deeply thoughtful and meaningful. His gift to her had to be similar in nature. While he had meditated upon the question for hours he was no closer to thinking of an acceptable gift.
Deciding he was clearly unable to think of an acceptable gift at the time Spock stood, sniffed his incense, and settled himself on his bed. Perhaps sleep would help him. Chris claimed her best ideas came to her as she dreamed…
"Computer," He ordered, "shut off the lights and the music." The dimmed lights darkened and the soothing sound of chimes and the Vulcan lute ceased.
2258 – November 13th 1000 Hours
Chris scowled at Spock from across the ready room table. "If the situation is potentially dangerous it is best for all if unnecessary personnel remain upon the Enterprise." Spock reasoned.
Chris ignored her friend and focused on Jim. "Captain I'm the best choice for this mission. I'm a gifted linguist, as Uhura is, however I also have a very impressive cultural knowledge of most known alien species." Jim's blue eyes looked contemplative. He was seriously considering it… "And with my empathic ability I can sense if any living thing we encounter intends us harm, and I can soothe tense situations."
Jim glanced at Spock, who was hyper tense and defiantly in full 'emotionless Vulcan' mode. "Sorry Spock, but Chris is right. Bones, Chris, Livie and myself will go down to the planet."
"Captain I must protest…" Spock argued.
"No," Jim said, cutting Spock off. "Spock this is purely an exploration mission. We'll be fine. I mean, come on man, what could possibly go wrong?" Spock remained tense and his eyes clearly disapproving but he said nothing more. Jim grinned. "Okay, Bones and Liv, back your bags. Chris and I will meet you at Transporter room one in fifteen minutes to beam down." Jim stood and everyone followed suit. "Mr. Spock, you have the conn."
As Chris passed Spock she tried not to feel smug. She was good at what she did… why would he try and make her stay back? And, in fact, how dare he? What was going on in that Vulcan mind of his…
But a strong, hot hand curled around her upper arm gently, halting her for a quick moment. A hot hand brushed the back of her neck, two fingers touching her bare skin and causing the familiar slight buzz.
I must ask you be careful. He said in her mind. We nearly lost you once and I do not believe any of us wish for a repeat.
But she felt his worry for her now he was touching her, her own annoyance not enough to block out his emotion through their connected minds. I'll be fine Spock. She assured him. Don't worry about me, my friend. I'll always come back to you. When she stepped away he let her. Their interaction had only taken a few short seconds, no one had noticed. She joined Jim in the turbo lift with a smile.
Spock stood and watched Lieutenant Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Jim, and Chris stand on the transporter pad. He was highly displeased that Chris would ignore him so, appealing to his superior officer, but it did not surprise him. He knew that his Chris was far more independent than was always wise.
He questioned why he was so disapproving of a potentially smooth and event-free mission. He had allowed her to fight a Cardassian in a bar, encouraged her to defy the population of her home town… However during those events he had been with her… there to help should she need him. As she disappeared into the swirl of lights he was completely unable to be there for her… and it made him highly uncomfortable.
Chris materialized beside her friends in what could only be described as a rainforest equal to the Amazon three hundred years past. The sunlight was a pale green as it filtered through the canopy and dappled upon the forest floor… what little she could see of it. Almost every available patch of sunlight, no matter how weak, was utilized by some plant.
The calls of animals surrounded them. Chris laughed, turning to her friends. "I'm in heaven, right?"
Liv laughed back, smiling. "No, but I sure hope Heaven looks like this." She plucked at her uniform. "Just less humid!"
Chris snickered as Bones rolled his eyes and Jim muttered his agreement with his twin. "So, do we split up or what?" She asked, not knowing the exact protocol.
"You're with me," Bones snapped quickly, catching her arm. "One medic per team, Liv can try to control Jim."
To Chris' amusement Liv pouted, clearly annoyed. "But BONES! Chris is so much more sensible than Jim."
Bones snorted. "Which is why I'm going with her." With his warm hand on her arm he marched her off toward the east. "See you back here in two hours!"
"Kommander Spock, the avay team has made it safe to ze surface." Chekov said, shooting Spock a look that clearly expressed his nervousness. Spock could not understand why the boy was nervous. Or why the rest of the bridge crew seemed to be tense. It was, as Jim had said, a simple mission. He simply did not wish for Chris to risk herself needlessly.
"Thank you Mr. Chekov." He told the boy.
The teen's eyes shifted from side to side, not stopping and not meeting Spock's. "Zey haff spleet up, Kommander. Lieutenant Pike and Dr. McCoy haff left the Keptain and Lieutenant Kirk and are walking in opposite directions."
Irrationally Spock felt a flash of a dark emotion akin to anger but it did not show on his Vulcan-controlled face. "Thank you Ensign."
The boy turned swiftly around and focused on his station with unnecessary concentration. Indeed the whole group was acting… off. He would usually turn to Chris for an explanation, however since she was absent he turned to the next best person. Uhura. "Lieutenant Uhura, please walk with me." He said, standing from Jim's chair. "Sulu, you have the conn." He walked into the ready room without hesitation, hearing Uhura follow him. The door hissed closed and he turned to face her.
"Please explain to me the tense atmosphere of the bridge." He said tersely.
Uhura shifted slightly, a sign of her own nervousness. "You… can I speak freely?" She asked. Spock nodded. He might not feel a romantic bond to Uhura, however he trusted her opinions and insights. "You're more tense than usual, Spock. Everyone can sense it. It's just like… just like right after the destruction of Vulcan, except not as bad." She shrugged. "No one wants to risk your temper, they all remember…"
He nodded briskly, not wishing to recall the moment of his truest loss of control. But he did feel the stab of regret and embarrassment from the mention of the incident. "Jim is particularly gifted at angering people, especially when he is actively attempting to do so." Spock pointed out.
Uhura nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes he is, and even when he's not trying." Spock felt the flash of shared amusement between them, teasing their friend and colleague. "I'm glad you can be friends with me still Spock. After Jim and everything." She said suddenly.
Spock did not understand the reason behind her gladness. They were colleagues and valued each other's opinions, why would their romantic relationship ending and her finding another ruin such a bond? He did not know but did not ask. Humans were odd and he could simply ask Chris when she returned.
The thought of his Chris on the planet without him to aide her made his stomach twist, an odd and unpleasant sensation. Uhura sighed. "And as your friend," she said, snapping Spock from his mind, "I want to give you a little advice." Spock nodded. Uhura smiled. "You are in love with Chris, Spock." She said simply, as if pointing out that he wore a blue shirt. However the statement filled him with shock. In love? Him? With Chris? Did the emotion he felt for her constitute love? "Just do yourself a favor, Spock," Uhura continued, "tell her how you feel, kiss her, something. Or you just might lose her for good. You're not the only one interested in her."
With that Uhura excused herself and left the ready room. A minute later Spock, setting aside his troubling thoughts, followed her. The crew was far less tense when he returned and he suspected Uhura had said something. He was grateful, for he would not have known how to well handle the humans' emotions. He was struggling with his own…
Chris knelt beside a beautiful looking blue flower, examining it. Sulu would just die, she thought happily as she snapped a quick image of the plant. She wondered if it was un-catalogued, if so maybe she and Sulu could name it. Rising she glanced at Bones as he glared at her from his place beside a large tree.
"Can we please go back?" He asked with his yummie drawl, exasperated. "We've established there is no sign of advanced life forms, you've felt nothing, can we please just go?!"
Chris snickered at his annoyance. "Bones, come on, where's your sense of advnture?"
He just glared. "I am a doctor, Chrissy, not a damned adventure seeker. That's Jim."
"And Livie." Chris added, collecting her pack. "But fine, if you are going to keep bitching then we'll just go back." She headed off at an angle to their route into the depths of the forest, back along a different path. "Let's go." She quipped.
"That's not the path!" Bones cried, annoyed and slightly excited. She knew he had a well-hidden rough and tumble sort of man under that Doctor polish and Southern gruff charm. "Chris!"
"Where's the fun in following the same path each way?" She called back to him, leaping nimbly over a fallen tree.
"At least it's SAFE!" Bones yelled back but she ignored him, jumping over another fallen tree.
Damn, she thought, there's a lot of felled trees in this area… maybe it's got rot or something. I'll mention it to Sulu. She leapt over a third tree and hit the ground. Only to pitch forward as the loose dirt under her gave way. She yelped during her descent, but it blended into a cry of pain as she landed, snapping her right leg.
"Chris!" Bones yelled and she heard him running to reach her…
"NO!" She yelled and she heard him skid to a stop just before the third tree, dirt crumbled and skidded into the hole. "Don't climb over the tree, go around! There's a big hole!" She tried to keep her voice steady, to keep herself thinking about something other than her snapped leg. If she thought about it too much the endorphins wouldn't be enough to stop her mind from recognizing the pain.
Apparently she couldn't keep her voice steady enough. Bones cursed and she heard him scrambling around above her. Five minutes later she saw his gruff face above her by ten feet. "You okay there darlin'?" He asked, looking her over with highly critical eyes.
"No." She managed to say without whimpering. She was slowly feeling the pain, a sharp ache in her leg that would soon bloom into… NO She wasn't going to think about it.
"Shit." Bones growled. "Spock is going to kill me for this, you know that, right?"
Chris giggled. "He'll be impossible to live with." She added. "He'll use this as an excuse to keep me on the ship more than ever!"
Bones' rough laugh soothed her. If the man was mocking their friend and not cursing up a storm at her then she would be fine. "I'm calling the Enterprise for an immediate beam up for us." He called down, his face disappearing from the hole's edge. "Bones to Enterprise." He said, clearly tapping his com. "Bones to Enterprise, Chris needs an immediate beam up to sick bay."
There was silence as they waited for a reply. One never came. "Bones to Enterprise!" Bones said a little more urgently, she could feel the ripple of his worry tinged with fear. "Damn it Enterprise! Someone answer me!" His ripple of worry became a wave of fear touched with panic. "Chris, they ain't answerin'. Let me try OOF!" His voice cut short, accompanied by a loud thump.
"Fuck, Bones!" Chris yelled, "Don't tell me you fell over too! You're no good to the situation hurt!" She expected his annoyed, waspish reply… It didn't come. Panic set in. "BONES?!" She yelled, struggling to stand on her one good leg. "Bones, damn you, answer me! This is NOT funny!"
A dirty looking something flew over the edge of the pit, glowing slightly red, like an ember. She followed it's descent with her eyes before she realized it WAS basically an ember… something smoldering… like a big hunk of incense. And it was smoking! As it hit the ground she grabbed her shirt and lifted it to cover her nose and mouth. Crude but it might work long enough…
Her eye sight lost focus and she pitched to her left, screaming as she broke her fall with her broken leg. She tried to move, to stand or at least sit, but her arms felt weak, leaden… her head swam… everything went dark.
AN: Okay, I lied. I like this as a chapter ending. And I figure I NEED an update because it's been AGES!
And if you care, my trip to LA was awesome! Sadly I saw no stars, but I ate at Musso and Frank's Grill, which was wonderful, and saw Legally Blonde, which was cute (mind you, my sisters were singing the damn song "Ohmigod You Guys" like the ENTIRE rest of the trip, which drove me insane). And I went to the Santa Monica Pier! We ate a Bubba Gumps, if you haven't done so, DO it is GREAT! And anyone seen "Moonlight", the TV show from '07? Well I rode the rollercoaster on the pier, where the kid vamp loses his head! I sat there all four rides and giggled, replaying the scene in my head!
