Unfinished Business
Chapter 8 : The Return
March, 2273
When Bones beamed in, with a mustache, and full beard, Jim could hardly control his laughter. The doctor was feeling his body, to be sure that it had all materialized. He stepped down off the transporter deck, grousing about being drafted, but when Jim very convincingly said that he needed him badly, he took the proffered hand and clasped it tightly. And then he headed for sick bay, complaining about everything possible as he exited through the door. Behind him, Jim grinned. Things were almost back to normal.
They were ready. The crew sat at their stations on the bridge, and they began the slow movement necessary to clear the dry dock scaffolding. Everything was fine until they went to warp one. And then they entered a wormhole. They lost all controls. And then they detected an asteroid ahead of them, that had been sucked into the wormhole along with them. Unfortunately, it was not moving as fast as they were. When they managed to destroy it with a photon torpedo, they also blew free of the wormhole. Luckily there were no casualties and no damage to the ship.
But the wormhole had been created by an imbalance in the engines, and warp drive would not be possible until it had been corrected.
Jim and Bones were in the captain's quarters, in serious discussion, when there was a call from the bridge. Uhura told him that there was a Federation shuttle requesting permission to come alongside, and Chekov said that it had a high priority and was probably a courier of some sort. He told them to see to it, and turned back to Bones.
When the shuttle pod docked, and Chekov went to meet the supposed courier, he was first puzzled when the occupant was described as StarFleet Inactive, and then delighted when the door slid aside and Mr Spock stepped out, dressed in Vulcan robes. "Permission to come aboard, sir."
"Granted, sir, granted." But Chekov's welcoming smile died when Spock turned and strode off down the corridor without another word. Chekov turned, and followed him, going back to the bridge.
The turbolift doors opened, and Spock stepped out, turning his head to see Uhura sitting there. When she saw him, Uhura rose from her seat with a gasp, staring at him. She leaned one hand against the back of her chair, bracing herself, her whole body leaning in his direction, her eyes glued to him. He turned his head and looked straight forward, toward the bridge pit, not reacting to her in any way.
Hearing the gasp, Kirk turned the command chair about, saying "What?" And rose up out of his seat, leaning on the railing around the bridge pit. "Spock!" Spock looked at him, a stern expression on his face, but said nothing. There was absolutely no expression on his face at all.
Sulu was also on his feet, calling out Spock's name. The only person on the bridge who had not risen to welcome him was Commander Decker, and that was the person Spock turned to. When he spoke, Decker rose from the Science station and handed Spock the device he had been using. Spock did something at the console, and then spoke, without turning to look at anyone, telling Kirk that he had been monitoring their communications and was aware of their engine design difficulties. His voice was deep, and almost flat, almost harsh, and entirely without inflection. And then he did turn, and look at Kirk, and he offered his services as Science Officer. Kirk accepted without a second's hesitation. And he watched Uhura standing there, watching Spock, a real smile on her face. Her dimples even showed.
He had just told Chekov to log Spock's service reactivation and his position, when McCoy and Chapel entered the bridge from the other turbolift, offering words of welcome. McCoy even said that he was actually pleased to see him. Spock lifted his head and looked at them, like he had never seen them before. There was nothing on his face to indicate that he even knew them. The smiles left their faces and they looked at each other, not sure what was happening. Kirk noticed that the smile had left Uhura's face as well.
Spock turned and headed for the turbolift. Just as he reached the doors, Uhura spoke. "It's the way we all feel, Mr Spock." He hesitated, but he did not look at her, or speak, but turned his head back to the small device in his hands. He then swiveled about and told Kirk that he would go and give the engineer the fuel equations that he had worked out. He turned again, headed into the turbolift. But when Kirk called his name, he hesitated again, and half turned his head over his shoulder. "Welcome aboard."
He did not turn, he did not speak. He simply stepped forward the rest of the way into the turbolift, and the doors closed behind him, leaving the bridge in silence.
Author's Note : This chapter is based VERY closely on the corresponding scene from the movie. I am not making up any of the looks or reactions (or lack thereof).