An: Hope you guys liked the last chapter! I don't about you but I am so looking forward to the new Star Trek movie.
Exposed
Rays of sunlight peaked through the clouds bringing the coming dawn and Mestral was still not home, nor Davina. Stronn had become worried and after checking in on Nell and Sela a dozen times during the night, he brought the child and puppy over to his apartment to care for them.
T'Mir cooked breakfast for the toddler as Stronn fed Sela scraps of meat.
Stronn didn't want to admit he was afraid, afraid something happened to Mestral, but T'Mir knew the truth.
"They are sleeping together," she said bluntly.
Quickly glancing over at Nell, Stronn shook his head in disagreement, "A Vulcan can't possibly be attracted to a human."
Feeding the messy toddler, T'Mir interjected, "This isn't just any Vulcan, this is Mestral we're talking about. Mestral has always had a soft spot for these creatures and I've seen how he is with Davina. He loves her."
"Vulcans aren't capable….."
"Don't!Just don't! You know how defiant Mestral has been since we came here. His nobility…"
Stronn cut T'Mir off, "What does his noble status has to do with anything?"
Shoving the food down Nell's throat, "Everything! Mestral thinks he is better than us. He wants control. He wants to be in control of this mission."
"Our mission ended when we crashed here," Stronn corrected her, "And you are letting your personal feelings for Mestral to influence you. If you ask me, you have an inferiority complex when it comes to Mestral."
Dropping the plate on the table, T'Mir ignored Nell's cries for her food, "I beg your pardon?"
Never looking up from Sela, Stronn spoke in a low voice, "You heard me. Ever since Mestral was assigned to this mission and you learned of his family, there has been tension between the two of you. To be honest, Mestral has done nothing to you nor has he used his family's influence in any way. How quickly you forget."
"Forget what?" T'Mir's asked.
Stronn kept his emotions in check, something which angered T'Mir more, "Mestral saved our lives when he went hunting while you rather us starve, Mestral took it upon himself to go hunting. And, Mestral saved my life when you were completely content with leaving me to die in the forest."
He was right, T'Mir knew this, but her pride kept getting the way, "Logic dictates…."
"Logic dictates what?"
They both sat there unable to speak, as they knew their emotions were dangerously close to the surface.
Nell's laughter at putting the plate of food over her head broke the tension.
Turing her attention to the child, T'Mir moaned as she saw the mess, "You will need a bath."
Standing up, Stronn walked towards the door, "I am going to look for Mestral. Take care of Nell and Sela."
Before T'Mir could object, Stronn walked out and slammed the door.
Stronn came outside and began walking towards Pappy's Grill to ask Logan about Mestral's whereabouts when he heard a small noise coming from the back of the building.
Slowly making his way towards the noise, Stronn stopped and his eyes widen.
Davina was pressed against the wall being kissed passionately by Mestral whose hands roamed the curves of her body.
"Davina," Mestral moaned in her ear, "Davina."
A tear rolled down Davina's eyes, "Mestral, remember your promise. Please don't let anything happen to Nell or Sela. Please." Davina pleaded in between kisses.
"Mestral!" Stronn yelled no longer caring about the strong inflection in his voice.
Pulling away in an attempt to 'hide' what just happen, Mestral looked up at his 'father', "Father, I…"
Davina pulled her shirt down and walked passed Stronn without saying anything.
Stronn called after her, "Nell and Sela are in our apartment."
Davina still nothing and made her way into the building.
The two Vulcan males stared at each other.
"Stronn…I know what this looks like…"
"So do I. It looks like a Vulcan male having sexual relations with a human female. That is what it looks like to me."
Mestral took a deep breath.
"Mestral, do you have any idea what you've done? You are young and in your state of passion could have mistakenly bonded with Davina," Stronn's voice deepened, "Our knowledge of human biology is limited…you could have…."
"No! That won't happen."
"Can you guarantee that?" Stronn asked.
"Thank you for taking care of Nell and Sela," Davina rushed past T'Mir and picked up Nell.
T'Mir initially startled by Davina's appearance found herself becoming angry with the woman.
"Davina, this can't happen," T'Mir said.
Confused Davina asked, "What?"
"You and my brother."
Davina rolled her eyes, "Please don't…don't tell me what I need to do!"
T'Mir pressed on, "We came here for life of peace."
"Well wherever you came from you sure as hell didn't come from Tri Mane!" Davina shouted, "I am not here to make life harder for you. You don't know anything about me!"
Cocking her head back in awkward position, T'Mir stammered, "You know where we come from?"
Davina sensing T'Mir's anger and worried for her safety put Nell down, "I always knew you and your family didn't come from Tri Mane. Like I told you when you first came, we don't ask about a person's past so long as it doesn't pose a threat to Carbon Creek."
T'Mir's heart started racing, the adrenaline made it harder to think straight, and she could feel the emotional control slipping away.
Her vision became blurry, her heart felt as though it would burst from her chest and she couldn't breathe.
"He told you about Vulcan!" T'Mir hissed as she moved in closer to Davina.
"Vulcan?" Davina asked as she put Nell and Sela behind her as T'Mir edged in closer.
Stronn and Mestral walked back into the apartment.
Mestral jumped in T'Mir's path, "Leave Davina alone!"
T'Mir did nothing to suppress her growl, "You told her everything did you?"
Before Mestral could say anything, T'Mir threw herself at him and wrapped her hands around his throat. Davina screamed, "Stop!"
"You doomed us all!" T'Mir hissed.
Mestral didn't want to hurt T'Mir, but in her rage she proved too dangerous and she was slowly choking him to death. Stronn knew he had to do something and he reached up and pinched T'Mir on the neck.
T'Mir collapsed to the floor.
Davina startled at the turn of events turned to Mestral and asked, "What is the hell is Vulcan?"
A cold chill came over the room, Stronn, Mestral, and Davina turned towards the door to see Kaden and his brother standing there.
Kaden came into apartment, "What the hell is going on?"
No one said anything.
"T'Mir?" Cale asked, "Is she dead?"
"No, she isn't dead."
Kaden turned his attention towards Davina, "Where were you?"
Davina said nothing.
Cale started laughing, "She was with Mestral!"
"Shut up, Cale!" Davina shouted.
Davina glanced over at Mestral something Kaden noticed but chose to ignore.
"I have too much going on to worry about your relationship with this man," Kaden said, "I need to talk to you!"
Davina picked up Nell and Sela and followed Kaden to her apartment.
Cale stayed for a brief moment and turning to Mestral he said, "If I were you I would leave Carbon Creek."
"Why?"
Cale's stoic expression hid his fears, "The mines are depleted. We thought that perhaps we could stretch it out for a few more months but….." Cale's voiced trailed away, "We can't."
"So what happens now?"
"We found something in the forest, a ship of some kind and Kaden hopes to use it in our efforts against The Coalition," Cale lowered his voice, "I am only telling you this because…."
Cale hesitated.
"Kaden and the others are growing more suspicious of you and your family. Your story about coming from Tri Mane never did make any sense but the only reason we left it along is because Davina liked you. She trusts you."
Mestral and Stronn said nothing as Cale went on.
"I don't know who or what you are and I don't care. All I care about is saving Carbon Creek and being with my brother. If Carbon Creek falls we don't have anywhere else to go and I can't let that happen."
"So Kaden is willing to serve us up to The Coalition?" Mestral asked.
"My brother is a good man, but he is a man who is haunted by past. The fall of Haven shames him and it influences nearly every decision he makes regarding Carbon Creek. He also thinks of Davina and wants to protect her."
"He loves Davina?" Stronn asked.
Mestral started to feel uncomfortable as he knew Davina's secret and given their night spent together didn't want to talk about her.
"Kaden's loyalty to Davina goes well beyond love," Cale explained.
"I know Davina's secret and why Kaden is so protective of her, "Mestral interjected.
Cale smirked grew spread wider across his face, "Of course you do."
Without saying anything else, he left.
"They found the ship!" T'Mir blurted out as she struggled to stand.
"Are you alright?" Stronn asked.
"No," she answered bluntly, "I am not alright. We have been compromised."
"Compromise doesn't being to explain our problems if the humans suspect anything they will destroy us or hand us over to The Coalition," Stronn added.
"No we haven't been compromised," Mestral corrected them, "Davina and the others don't know anything!"
T'Mir sucked her teeth, "What is with you and this woman?"
Stronn agreed, "Why is Davina so important?"
Mestral hesitated.
"If they learn of the ship then they will eventually learn about us, the truth," T'Mir went on, "So we lied about being from this city, Tri Mane, but if they discover the truth…."All three stood silent.
"Davina," Mestral hesitated, "I care about Davina a great deal, and yes, I spent the night with her and by accident….I…."
Stronn tilted his head, "By accident you did what?"
"I mind meld with her and learned her secret," Mestral took a deep breath.
The eyes of both Vulcans widen, "You are capable of mind melding?"
Mind melding was a secret shame on Vulcan and those who had the ability often found themselves ostracized from society, but Mestral was of high birth and such a secret could shame his entire family.
"Davina is a genetically engineered human," Mestral said.
"How did they manage to do that?" asked Stronn.
Mestral face suddenly became stoic, "They combined it with alien DNA."
T'Mir who by now was sitting down stood up, "Impossible! Humans have had no contact with…."
"And yet, she and others have it," Mestral interrupted.
"There are more?" T'Mir asked.
"Yes, Davina is one of the 'Missing Twenty', twenty genetically engineered humans whose DNA was combined with the alien DNA but their biological parents are high-ranking members of The Coalition."
"How did this happen?" T'Mir in shock asked.
"How could we not have noticed?" Stronn asked.
"Davina herself is only vaguely aware of what she is and I don't know which alien species her DNA was combined with, but apparently, the humans have been experimenting with this technology before the war," Mestral added, "I think it's what caused the war.
Mestral briefly thought back to their time in the woods and the irony of T'Mir's policy of non-contamination. The truth was that the humans had been contaminated for some time; after all, Earth had been visited in the past by aliens long before Vulcans even learned to walk upright.
But this discovery meant that humans had been aware of alien life even if they did not directly interact with an alien species.
"Why did they do this?"
"It was thought by combining human and alien DNA, it would create super soldiers to fight for The Coalition, but things didn't go as planned. The DNA proved unstable and many of the humans inflected with it became violent, psychotic and difficult to control, they destroyed everything and in the end, The Coalition decided to do away with them. All that remained were the twenty embryos which were kept in cold storage."
"And just how did Davina become Davina?"
"The Coalition wanted to try again, and re-enhanced the DNA to make these humans more docile and less aggressive. They were implanted in women who served as guinea pigs and once they given birth they were killed and the children kept in what they called the 'nursery." Mestral said, "Fifteen years later, The Coalition fearing another rebellion ordered the termination of the twenty, but they escape with the help of a scientist who had come to care for them."
Mestral lowered his head, "Kaden's father was the scientist who helped Davina, and the others escape. Once The Coalition learned of this he was killed and Haven was destroyed."
Stronn asked, "What of Nell? Is she….."
"Nell is the offspring of one of the Missing Twenty, who died shortly after giving birth. It was thought these enhanced humans were incapable of reproduction. Davina adopted Nell." Mestral leaned back on the couch, "Davina is one of the last Missing Twenty many of the others have been hunted down and killed."
The Vulcans couldn't believe it and yet deep down inside they knew it to be true.
"What are we going to do?" Stronn asked.
"The High Command, we need to inform The High Command," T'Mir mumbled to herself.
"We need to help these humans," Mestral stood up. "If we can't protect Carbon Creek then we need to find a way to get these humans to a safer location."
"Saving these humans is the last thing we need to worry about," T'Mir said, "I am interested to know which species came to earth and left their DNA and why?"
"You can't be serious?"
"I am."
"T'Mir, The Coalition is going to kill these people and perhaps take Davina and Nell. Who knows what will become of them if that happens," Mestral said.
"Mestral is right. I don't want anything happening to Nell," Stronn added. He hated to admit it but he was fond of the toddler and her puppy, Sela.
T'Mir started to open her mouth when the beeping sound came from the communication receiver they hidden in the cabinet.
A cold chill ran up the spines of all three.
Walking slowly towards the cabinet, T'Mir picked up the receiver.
Holding it firmly in her grip, she pressed the button.
"This is the Kurana responding to the distress call of the Koval."
"Please respond."
"This is T'Mir of the Koval. We thought no one had gotten our call."
"We apologize, but we only received the distress call two days ago when it was forwarded to us by a Tellarite freighter. We will arrive in four days."
"Understood."
T'Mir lowered her head secretly pleased, "This is not our problem. We have only four days before we no longer have to deal with these humans. We must lay low until then"
Stronn and Mestral exchanged glances of confusion, how could they possibly help the humans before they leave?
As for Mestral, the questions were deeper, what were the consequences of leaving? What would become of Carbon Creek? Davina?
What would be the consequences of returning to Vulcan? After all, he made love to Davina, he cared for her, and his crewmates now knew of his mind melding ability.
Mestral could speak for Stronn but deep inside he trusted him. Stronn would not use such secrets to advance himself back at home; however, T'Mir was another story.
T'Mir disliked him at least that much had always been clear.
Despite having saved her life, T'Mir would try to use his actions here as a means to advance herself either directly or indirectly.
So he had a choice to make.
They all did.
An: I hope you like it. It took a while to hammer out the details and I am not sure what will happen. Guess that's the fun of writing!