Enterprise High
being a high school AU of ST: XI
with many hijinks
and much angst
x
Chapter Seventeen: Friday's Child
x
The first time the Enterprise High hovercar team had been out on the racetrack in Riverside, they had been calm and collected. Their hover had been ready to run, their team members had been unhurried and prepared, and the day had been a bright and sunny one, a cheerful, sparkling morning full of hope and potential.
This day was a dreary, overcast hell of a Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles, and the Enterprise looked like shit. Its builders didn't look much better. In fact, they looked exactly like their counterparts in the other hoverclubs nearby, dashing around their cars like cockroaches in a sudden light.
"This is bad," said Sulu, who was splayed flat against the right outer panel of the hovercar, covered in grease and dripping a bit of blood from his eyebrow, working with an equally dirty Chapel to pry the stubborn gurian alloy off of one of the dilithium crystal casings to hook up some important wires. "This is very, very bad. It can't be more than five minutes until they call us."
Inside the hovercar, Spock and Chekov were working side by side to hook up the interior panels they hadn't had time to connect. The handling screen was displayed prominently and had been put in before most of the outer body had been finished because of Scotty's determination not to make the same mistake twice, but the other panels weren't so lucky. Chekov had dropped one of the heavy plasma screens on Spock's foot, nearly evoking a curse from the half-Vulcan. Spock was quite positive his two smallest toes were broken but since he wasn't going to walk during the race and didn't have time to get them healed, he simply bit his cheek in an attempt to ignore the pain. Chekov had pinched the skin of his forearm between the two parts of a hinge-panel and, like Sulu, was bleeding sluggishly, but he just pulled on his jacket so as not to get blood on the delicate displays and kept working, his small hands moving quickly and ably over the backs of the cool plasma screens.
Uhura, Bones, and Kirk were attempting to fix one of the thrusters, which had actually fallen off when they had driven the Enterprise out of the transport and onto the track. Bones and Uhura had heaved the thing onto their shoulders and were trying to be patient as Kirk fiddled with the connections, but both of them felt like their spines were about to compress at the atomic level. Bones was keeping up a quiet yet steady stream of dire curses and Uhura was muttering in Klingon, the most violent language she could think of.
Pike and Scotty were yards away, arguing with track officials about a large number of issues that seemed to have come up out of nowhere on the day of the race, such as the questionable legality of Kirk being near the track, the fact that the blueprints of the new Enterprise were judged to be slightly yet maddeningly different from the Enterprise they had brought with them, and the complaint the Pride High hoverclub had submitted against its Enterprise counterparts. The governing body of the competition, led by Dr. Eleen, approached. Pike fixed her with a cold stare. Scotty continued gesticulating to the battered-looking UCLA track official.
Kirk had driven up to Los Angeles earlier in the morning on his motorcycle in order to avoid the suspension, which stated that he was not allowed in the transport chartered for his hoverclub on the day before, the day of, or the day after a race. While he was allowed to spectate, he was not allowed on the track. Scotty continued to claim that the staging area was not a part of the track—"T' meself, 'track' means 'track;' if it means somethin' else to yourselves, then ah can't comprehend what," Scotty insisted. Pike took the track official aside and convinced him, by means of his alarmingly dire tone of voice, that the spirit of the blueprints remained intact on the new iteration of the Enterprise—"The Enterprise-A, if you will…"—if not the appearance. They had had to make some last-minute changes, all of which were painfully written out in the appendices of the blueprints. Finally the track official agreed to the plans and Pike returned to find Scotty holding his own against Dr. Eleen, who was treating the Pride complaint very seriously.
"Christopher," said Eleen shortly in greeting. She grimaced and moved her hand to cover her stomach, but continued despite the flicker of pain that crossed her face. "Pride High has stated that they have deemed your school a danger to the competition. They cite your previous record of destruction—"
"Those laddies caused th' destruction or damage of fully half of th' field last race!" cried Scotty. "Dr. Eleen, you can't possibly cite us for dangerous conduct."
"Your school did not enter a complaint against Pride High," snapped Eleen. "As such, your argument—"
"Dr. Eleen," Pike slipped in smoothly. "Julie."
She turned to him, eyes narrowed.
"You remember my wife, Vina?" said Pike. The other racing officials and council members looked confused, as did Scotty. "She rarely pointed out the wrongdoings of others, but when she did, she expected those others to take her complaint seriously. I feel that it would be courteous to honor her memory by keeping up her expectations and standards."
Eleen scowled at him. Finally she said, "Fine. Pride High's complaint is dismissed, taking rules excusing dangerous conduct into account. Enterprise High, your blueprints are hereby accepted as accurate representations of your hovercar's construction. But you are required to move your suspended member into the common viewing area at this time, or have him escorted from UCLA property if he refuses to remove himself."
"Two out of three ain't bad," said Pike coolly.
"A touching reference," said Eleen. "However, it does not apply to the current situation."
"I find it apt. Scotty, go tell Jim to wait in the common viewing area. Tell him to keep his communicator with him."
"Aye aye, sir."
When Scotty had left, Pike turned back to Eleen.
"It's time we talked," he said. "Follow me."
x
Scotty came dashing up to the Enterprise. "Jim," he called. "You have t' leave. Dr. Eleen ruled against Pride and in favor of th' blueprints, but she wouldn't let you stay."
"Fuck. Come up and finish the thruster, then," sighed Kirk, climbing off of the hovercar.
"Take your communicator!" said Scotty, scrambling up to Kirk's perch. "Mr. Pike requested it."
"In my pocket," said Kirk, just as the loudspeaker clicked on.
"Would the S through Z schools please make their way towards the starting line, pilots in hovers, sponsors leading and members following."
From inside the hover, Chekov cursed. "Three more screens to go!" he called to Scotty.
Scotty worked quickly on thruster, screwing the bolts in place faster than Kirk could. By the time the moderator called the next set of hovers, Scotty was finished. He told Bones and Uhura they could move and leapt down, running over to the cockpit. "Help Hikaru with the wiring!" he told Bones and Uhura.
"Progress?" he demanded of Spock, sticking his head into the hover.
"I have finished the first panel and am assisting Pavel in mounting the second," said Spock, voice strained. "The third we have not begun."
Scotty twisted his torso around and scrabbled at the third panel, the race status monitor, one of the more important screens. Sulu shouted that the wires had been hooked in as the moderator called for the H to N schools. Spock and Chekov finished the second panel. Spock zipped up his flight jacket and started checking the systems as Chekov turned to help Scotty.
Bones, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov patted down the exterior of the Enterprise. They were nearly alone in the staging area; three-fourths of the other hovers had departed and the remaining cars had already lined up in anticipation of being called. Seconds before the monitor summoned the A through E schools, Chekov tumbled out of the cockpit, tucking tools hurriedly into the belt he had looped over his shoulder. Uhura ran up to the window and kissed Spock. He kissed her back, deeply, and then drew away and closed the windows, watching her eyes as the dark screen of the window moved up her form. As she backed away, he turned on the hover. Everybody held their breath as the engine started; Scotty actually covered his mouth and hid slightly behind Bones.
Inside the Enterprise, Spock was watching the recently installed screens with worry. The situation was bad. The Enterprise was not entirely finished. He suspected that its hastily-installed components might not last the race. But, as he wrapped his hands around the wheel, he felt confident. If anybody could steer the Enterprise to the next round, it was him. Spock allowed his ego to wash over him, his sense of superiority at being part-Vulcan amidst all of these humans wrapping around him, and knew that he would win.
Outside, everybody let out sighs of relief as the thrusters flickered blue. Spock twitched the impulse engines forwards and puttered towards the rest of the A through E pack, who were already heading towards the starting line.
x
"Before you start, Chris, hear me out," said Eleen. They had walked into the middle of the large racetrack, a quarter of a mile in towards a small valley with a lake at its base. Eleen turned to Pike, scowling at him. "You had no call back there to bring up Vina."
"I may do with Vina's memory as I wish," said Pike. Any other human would have fled from the hateful tone of his voice, but Eleen was made of stronger stuff than gurian, and had stood against Pike before, even if that before was almost twenty years ago. As she watched him, waiting for him to continue, she recalled meeting him for the first time.
x
"Come on, doctor. Out on Orthos you can do just about anything; Gothos has got a metallurgy plant out there you'd practically want to have sex with; it's that perfectly stacked with the proper equipment. Starfleet will give you unlimited funding. Just spend six months on the Kelvin, working on the practical warp experiment, and you can do anything you want with starships, shuttlecrafts, and hovercars over on Orthos."
Eleen raised a haughty eyebrow at the man talking to her, the first officer of the Kelvin, a Mr. George Kirk. He had heard quite a bit about her—as well he should have, considering he was a Starfleet officer and she had invented his precious shuttlecrafts—but she had never heard of him.
"I am disinclined to waste six months of my life on a Kelvin type starship, especially the prototype," said Eleen distastefully. "The warp coils utilized on a Kelvin type are massive wastes of energy."
"That's why we want you onboard," said Kirk with a smile, ignoring her attitude. They were pacing through Federation headquarters and had come to a stop at a fork in the hallway. Kirk stretched a hand to the right, politely motioning for Eleen to pass him. "Captain Robau's offices are along this corridor. If you would—Chrissy!"
On the left hallway, a black-haired man in security red was standing at a door, talking to someone inside. He looked up at the sound of his name.
"Georgey," he said, a distinct smile appearing on his clever face when he saw Kirk. "Fancy meeting you here. And who is this delectable lady you're escorting?"
"Doctor Julie Eleen, Mr. …?" Eleen provided.
"Lieutenant Commander Christopher Pike, Chief of Security on board the Kelvin. Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Eleen. I see you've made the unfortunate acquaintance of my dear friend Mr. Kirk."
"I have indeed, but thus far he has been most kind."
"How uncharacteristic. Doctor Eleen—" Pike gestured, and two women exited from the room he had been standing before. "My wife, Lieutenant J.G. Vina Oliver, and Mr. Kirk's wife, Ensign Winona Lawrence. Vina, Winona, this is Doctor Julie Eleen."
Eleen shook Vina's and Winona's hands. Vina was a short, blonde woman with plump cheeks and bright blue eyes. She looked quite cheerful in contrast to Pike, who seemed ironic and arch. When she touched Eleen's hand a blush covered her cheeks and she barely met Eleen's eyes. Eleen decided she liked her.
x
When it became apparent that Pike was not going to continue, Eleen spoke.
"However painful it must be for you to realize this, Vina's memory is not yours to preserve," said Eleen harshly, moving so that she was close to Pike. Her hands were on her hips and there was a scowl plastered to her high-cheekboned face.
"She left herself to me," growled Pike. "I'll have you know, Julie, that in the end I was her priority. She never said goodbye to you."
"But that's not the point, is it? I'm trying to remind you—"
Eleen broke off, gasping and clutching at her stomach. She stumbled backwards and Pike moved forward automatically, holding her arms and settling her back against a short splinter of granite batholith. She leaned heavily against the rock, eyes closed tightly.
"The baby," she panted. "Shit and damn, the baby's coming. Chris, get paramedics—"
Pike fumbled at his pocket for his communicator and flipped it open. "Emergency, emergency. A woman has gone into labor. Over."
There was a long moment of static, and then a broken reply. "Clarify," said a crackling voice. "Citizen, your bzt -nal is weak. What bzt –ation?"
"UCLA hovercar racetrack, in the inner circle," said Pike. "Can't you lock onto my signal?"
"bzt –ference, move bzt –cation, over."
"Repeat!" cried Pike. "Repeat!"
Static.
x
The hoverclub, three members down, was in the viewing area waiting for the race to begin. Bones flipped open his communicator and called Kirk.
"You in the common area?" Bones said, glancing around as if he might see him. "I ought to come watch it with you. Don't want to leave you all alone."
"Yeah, good idea, but hey, is Pike with you?"
"No," said Bones curiously. "He left with Dr. Eleen before the race. I guess he was tryin' to clear up some more stuff. What's up?"
"Maybe," said Kirk. "It's just—I was fiddling around with my communicator, and I was on the 911 channel and I thought I heard him saying 'Emergency.' Where did he head off to with her?"
"Down back into the center of the track," said Bones, nodding behind himself automatically even though Kirk couldn't see him. "You goin' after him?"
"We're going after him."
"You got a mouse in your pocket, Jim? He's fine; he's a grown man, he can take care of himself."
"I'd rather not take chances," said Kirk. "Plus, I'm bored. Please, Bones?"
Bones sighed. He couldn't resist that pleading. "Alright. It's not like I can do anythin' useful here. I'll meet you at the back entrance. Make sure not to go into the crew area or security'll have your ass faster'n I would."
x
As Kirk and Bones made their way to their way down the multi-tiered viewing area, Spock watched the four groups in front of him blast off from the starting line. This time, the Enterprise was in the final pack of ten, since it had placed second-to-last in the first race. There were fifty participants in this race, thirty-six of which would go on to the third of six stages of competition. The odds of finishing in the top thirty-six were good, but the Narada was in Spock's group, which worried him, as did the condition of the Enterprise. But he pushed the worry away as the moderator counted down, finally giving the go. Spock hit the accelerator and the Enterprise surged forwards.
Uhura watched the screen tensely. She could see the vibration in the thruster they'd had to reattach. Scotty had hidden himself in a corner. Uhura knew how helpless she felt—the escape packs installed in the hovercar seats were basically foolproof, and nobody had ever been killed during this competition, but there were first times for everything. She went over to Scotty. He was holding his knees to his chest, his hands crossed in front of his head. He looked slightly angry.
He looked up at her, eyes narrowed.
"Ah wish ah were on a proper ship," he said, frowning. "Ah wouldn't feel so useless. On a starship you can fix things if they break mid-warp or in th' middle of battle. With hovercars, there's nae ah can do until th' race is over."
Once on the racetrack, the rebuilt Narada swerved straight for the Enterprise. In its new form, the Narada was smaller but spikier, more obviously dangerous and clearly much faster. Spock realized immediately that its handling power was significantly greater than that of the Enterprise. He accelerated, trying to get away from the Romulan ship, convinced Nero would try something blatant and illegal that would nonetheless throw the Enterprise from competition. The Narada closed on him, catching up more quickly than Spock expected them to. They were in front of the fifth group; in fact, the Enterprise was so close to the fourth group that it was in first place.
The UCLA track was flatter than the Riverside course had been, more wide and open. There were no real rough patches for Nero to take advantage of, no screens of trees behind which he could destroy other hovers. But nothing in the rules of the competition said that vehicles were responsible for the accidents they caused. Although Nero could not actively seek to cause harm to the other hovers, he could confuse them and intimidate them as much as he wanted.
Spock had already used up his allotted fuel for the first tenth of the race even though he had only traveled a twentieth of it. He slowed down, gritting his teeth as he decelerated to four hundred miles an hour. The Narada moved in front of him and threw on its brakes.
Spock whipped the wheel to the right, barely avoiding a collision. He had to reduce speed or he wouldn't make it through the race, but the cost was the Narada dogging his every move.
x
Having met at the back door, Kirk and Bones proceeded into the wilderness at the center of the circular course. Knee-high, golden grass and upturned granite boulders made up the landscape. A path that sloped downwards was cut through the grass, darkly shaded and slightly spooky in the cloud cover. Kirk and Bones followed it, Kirk reaching back to take Bones's hand. It was warm out, nearly seventy despite the clouds, and Kirk had left his jacket with his bag on the transport. Bones, who carried a backpack with him nearly all the time (including now), was sweating slightly. At one point, Kirk, smiling mischievously, turned around and planted an unexpected kiss on Bones's lips. They stayed locked together for a few minutes before Kirk detached himself, laughing, and tugged Bones onwards.
They had walked for a few minutes, encountering short, stumpy trees and larger and larger igneous outcroppings when they heard a distant yell.
"Did you hear that?" Kirk demanded, stopping and putting his hand on Bones's shoulder to quiet him.
"Of course I heard it, Jim!" snapped Bones.
"Down here," said Kirk, dragging Bones down a ravine and into the bowl small valley, rimmed with the tiny, shrublike trees and edged by spiky rocks. Bones tripped on a loose chip of granite and fell heavily. Kirk ran back for him. Cursing, Bones waved him away, clutching at his ankle.
"Twisted," he gasped. "You go on, make sure nothing's happenin'. I'll be right there."
"Okay," said Kirk, worried. He pecked Bones's mouth and dashed off.
"Crazy kid," muttered Bones. It suddenly occurred to him that there could be Romulans down there, luring Kirk into a trap. He pulled himself to his feet, wincing as his ankle ground horribly—might be a fracture, actually—broke a branch off a tree to use as a cane, and limped hurriedly down the gully.
Kirk met him near the bottom, eyes wide. "It's Pike and Dr. Eleen," he panted. "She's gone into labor. Come on, I'll help you down."
"Have you called paramedics?" he demanded as Kirk scrabbled up the rock in front of him. Why had they even gone in this way? There was a perfectly reasonable entrance over to the right that Pike and Eleen had clearly used.
"Can't," grunted Kirk, losing breath as Bones leaned on him to heave himself over a waist-high boulder. "Communicators can't get through for some reason."
"Then run out to the track and call! They'll take long enough to get here as it is!"
"That's why I'm getting you down," said Kirk.
Bones froze. "What?"
"You're pre-med, aren't you? Come on, arm on my shoulders, like that. You'll have to help until the paramedics show up."
"Are you insane? I've never delivered a baby alone before!"
"You've observed, haven't you?"
"Yeah, a couple times, but—"
"Better than me or Pike," said Kirk stubbornly. "Think of it as a pop quiz in physiology." They had made it to the bottom. An idyllic little lake was holed in the center of the valley. Eleen was lying against a nearly vertical piece of flat granite, eyes closed and panting. Pike was expressionless as he knelt beside her, his hands wrapped in a tight knot on his lap.
"Git, Jim," growled Bones, pushing Kirk towards the easier entrance. Kirk shot one worried look at Pike and Eleen and started back up the trail.
Bones limped over to Pike and Eleen, exchanging a black look with Pike. He dropped painfully to the ground at Eleen's side, rummaging through his backpack for his medical tricorder and sonic cleanser. He ran the cleanser over his hands and lower arms, pulled out the tricorder, and automatically placed a hand on Eleen's shoulder to steady her as he ran the tricorder across her chest and abdomen. She hissed, pulling away from his touch.
Bones, who was sweaty, angry, and in considerable pain, was not about to accept that reaction from someone he was trying quite selflessly to help.
"Now you listen to me, woman," he snapped at her. "I'll touch you in any way or manner that my professional judgment indicates."
Eleen glared at him. "You're not even in college," she said breathlessly. "Professional judgment…"
"I'm a damn sight more qualified than either of you to help out."
"I have delivered ten children!" cried Eleen. "I know my way through childbirth—" She let out a cry of pain.
"Then tell me exactly what's wrong with the baby," said Bones harshly. "You can't? Funny, I can. It's a breech birth, kneelin', and you're presentin' Gorricker's syndrome as well, both of which are complications I can deal with but you can't. Mr. Pike, help me get her back against this rock; I'm not an escalator."
Bones and Pike wrestled Eleen into position. "If you've given birth so many times, why couldn't you tell that you were goin' into labor soon?" Bones demanded. "You're nine months, if not more. You shouldn't be out to pasture in your condition."
"The typical gestation period for Romulans and Vulcans is ten months," said Eleen tightly. "The child I am carrying is half Romulan, half Vulcan. I have only ever given birth to human infants before this."
Bones gaped at her. "Why didn't you say so!" he cried.
"You're the one with the tricorder!"
"It's just taking basic readin's, the thing assumes you know what species you're—never mind. You're a surrogate, then? Unless you're also hidin' pointed ears and a shadowed past from me?"
"No pointed ears. The child is not mine."
"Great. I don't know hell about Romulan and Vulcan anatomy. Might not be Gorricker's." Bones frowned down at her. "You're already at five centimeters. How'd you manage so fast?"
"Aren't you—the doctor?" gasped Eleen. Bones was impressed; he knew enough of childbirth to figure that if he were female, he'd be sobbing for an epidural round about now. But this lady hadn't so much as screamed, although her yells were unnaturally loud and contained an impressively high concentration of curses.
"Technically, you are," said Bones. "But don't let that hang y'up. Ten births, you say? Guess it makes sense you're at five—five and a half, now—centimeters. Alright, hold still, I have to make sure we don't have a cord prolapse." Bones had participated in a delivery last year, at his father's hospital, but it had been a standard presentation, not this. Still, he knew the old theory behind dealing with breech births and wasn't about to back out.
x
Pike wrapped his hand around Vina's as he looked into Eleen's eyes. Eleen was five months into her voyage with the Kelvin, which she had finally accepted in return for a number of high-dollar conditions.
"The problem is," Pike said to her after a long breath, "that Vina cannot carry to term. We were wondering if—if you would, perhaps, consent to be a surrogate for our child, since you have previous experience. We ask not just as friends—we would be more than willing to pay you for your troubles."
Eleen rose, seeming oddly uncomfortable. "I—I would prefer not to," she said after pacing around the settee. She did not look him in the eye. "There are certain—complications—which prevent me from carrying to term at this time." She was unwilling to say more. Struck by her awkwardness, Pike left, taking Vina with him.
A week later—and a week before they reached Calder II, where the Kelvin was destroyed—Winona came to Pike with a pale, drawn expression on her face. She had just seen Vina and Eleen kissing.
Pike confronted Vina later that night.
Vina stared at him after he told her what a friend (he did not want to implicate Winona) had witnessed.
"I want a divorce," she said simply.
Pike gaped at her. "I'm sorry?" he said, feeling his heart go cold.
"If you're going to be like this—"
"Like—like what? I don't blame you, Vina, I just—I'd rather you had asked permission before sleeping with Julie. I don't mind, but—"
"You don't mind. How can you not mind? I'm in love with her. That's why I've been sneaking off to see her. I don't want you anymore, Chris. I don't want a child with you, either."
Pike had no idea what to do. He was confused and shocked and frightened. He had been with Vina for five years and he had never seen her like this.
"You said—before, when we got the tests—you said you wanted a child, with me—"
"I lied," said Vina harshly. "I don't need you. I've already picked her."
"Picked—her? For what? I don't understand."
"Now there's a fine choice for intelligent offspring," she said caustically. "I'm glad I didn't go with you."
"Offspring? As in children?"
"What else? I'd have more luck crossing you with a computer. You're too dedicated to your work, Chris. You have no idea what's required to raise a child."
"Vina—of course I do. I was completely willing to take as much time off as necessary to raise—"
"Starfleet is about to promote you," a voice interrupted.
Pike spun around. Eleen was standing in the doorway, in her characteristic position of hands on hips, staring at Pike like he was an insect.
"They're giving you your own ship," she said bluntly. "As soon as the Kelvin finishes its repairs on Calder II, they're dropping you off on Earth for your new commission. She's called the Endeavor."
Pike didn't move.
"I found out from George, who heard if from Robau himself. If you and Vina conceive now, you'll spend no time with your child before they send you off to parts unknown. And Vina never lied about wanting a child. She's been wanting a child, but she hasn't mentioned it because she thought you were too interested in promotions—which you are."
"I—Vina, you—" But Pike had no idea what to say.
"I'm leaving," said Vina, standing and crossing the room to take Eleen's hand. Her normally cheerful face had hardened into a cold mask, much like the one Eleen was wearing.
"Take your captaincy. I hope you enjoy it."
Neither of them looked back as they left the room.
The next day, Pike tried to go talk to Vina, heading for Eleen's quarters, but Eleen refused to let him in. In fact, when Pike, incensed, started to yell at her, she fired her phaser at him, stunning him. This was not something you were allowed to do on a Federation vessel without consequences. She was transferred to another ship for the duration of her experiment, not punished otherwise, since they were so much in need of her expertise. Vina followed her to the Halley, another Kelvin type, where Eleen restarted her experiments and heard the news that the USS Kelvin had been destroyed on Calder II. Horrified, Vina resigned Starfleet the next day and set out for Earth, where the survivors had been shipped.
She was maimed and paralyzed in a shuttlecraft accident before reaching the planet. The doctors told her she had no hope of regaining movement.
After a time, she committed suicide.
x
"Ten children?" said Pike suddenly, between contractions. Eleen looked up at him and he pushed the sweaty hair out of her eyes, staring down at her. "On the Kelvin, you said you had been a surrogate for nine infants."
"I had one after," she said, and was relieved when her pains came again.
x
The race was going strangely well. Spock was trying not to let his luck lull him into a false sense of security, but it was a hard thing. The Narada had clipped a tough, well-built car called the Stewart and was lagging in the race, flashing between twentieth and thirtieth. The Enterprise remained in the top ten, trading places with the Stewart, the Lexington (who had placed first in the last race), and the Constellation, which was, at times, as dangerous as the Narada, but had thus far behaved well. A few other cars, including the Defiant and the Negh'Var (an entry from Valor High in San Francisco manned mainly by Klingons), were giving the Enterprise a run for its money.
At the halfway mark of the race Spock had caught up with his fuel consumption and was operating on exactly half of the predicted dilithium crystal output. He had no fuel to spare, but that was alright; he didn't see himself needing a hard burn at any point in the race.
He lingered near eighth, allowing the Hornet and the Rotarran to pass him. He caught occasional glances of the Narada in his back mirrors. The Romulan vessel danced around mid-pack, continually attempting to break through into a higher rank but being thwarted each time. None of the hovercars were at all willing to cooperate with the Narada, not after what she had done last time.
And then, before he knew it, they were at the end of the race. Spock could see the finish line. Deeply surprised, he kept most of his attention behind him, on the Narada, which had managed to reach eighteenth but advanced no further. Maneuvering forwards, the Enterprise captured fourth from the Constellation and crossed the finish to resounding cheers.
x
The paramedics did not take long to arrive. Kirk waited for them at the entrance to the track, angrily fending off the track officials who were eager to cite him for breaking his suspension. He couldn't help staring at the status screen instead of the road while he waited; as he watched, the Narada went from second to thirty-seventh, and the Enterprise dropped to fifth from first. He wondered desperately what was happening.
The ambulance arrived screeching. Kirk gesticulated wildly that they should pass under the racetrack. The race officials attempted to give the paramedics trouble but were thoroughly chewed out for obstructing the passage of an emergency vehicle by the driver, a determined-looking woman named Beverly who pulled Kirk aboard and asked him where to go. He directed them down the small path on the inside of the track, the ambulance flattening another four feet of grass as it barreled down the valley.
Bones looked up to see four paramedics bearing down on him. He scrambled out of their way as they spread their kits around Eleen, hiking her onto a stretcher and checking her vitals.
"The child is half Romulan, half Vulcan," gasped Eleen. "I've been taking Romulan and Vulcan hormones that should make the labor faster and easier for a human, but I was supposed to have a midwife of each species by my side during the delivery. The baby—it's Barda and Ezar's."
Kirk gaped. Bones was unsurprised; what other half Romulan, half Vulcan child was being born of a human mother?
"No matter whose it is, you're going to have a rough time of it," said Beverly grimly. "It's breech and presenting Gorricker's."
"I know," panted Eleen. "I feel—no worse than normal."
"You know?" said Beverly sharply. "How can you know?"
"Him," Eleen managed, nodding to Bones.
Beverly whipped around, fixing Bones with an expectant stare. Bones quickly explained who he was and what had happened before they had arrived.
The baby came rapidly, within the next hour. Pike sent Kirk (who was very tired of being a messenger boy by this point) back to the track to tell everybody what had happened. Pike stayed because he knew Eleen, and Bones because he wanted to observe. Beverly even let Bones help since Eleen didn't seem to like anybody else touching her.
Kirk beat off the track officials again and found the hoverclub, who were dancing around the Enterprise and brandishing its fourth place metal at the Romulans, who looked like they were barely restraining themselves from attacking. Spock had taken charge in the absence of Pike and sent Scotty to fetch the transport.
"Where have you been?" cried Chekov, running up to Kirk and throwing his arms around him. "We placed fourth! I went to look for you but I could not find you. Where are Meester Pike and Leonard?"
"Long story," said Kirk, hugging Chekov back. "Fourth? Seriously? That's awesome." He smiled at Spock, who looked slightly happy with a pretty ribbon around his neck and Uhura clutching his arm tightly. "Congratulations," Kirk said to him, unconsciously draping his own arm around Chekov.
"Thank you, James," said Spock. "Do you know the whereabouts of Mr. Pike at this time?"
"Yeah, actually, he's back at the center of the track," said Kirk. "Dr. Eleen went into labor. He and Bones are with her and the paramedics."
"Bad timing," said Uhura sympathetically. "Is she alright?"
"I think so," said Kirk. "Bones had to be the OB/GYN until the paramedics arrived. For some reason, the communicator won't work in the valley they're in."
Spock gave him the eyebrow. "Considering this area was once a granite batholith which was destroyed by an accidental nuclear explosion in the late 2100s, that fact is not surprising. The amphibole hornblende in the batholith shards interferes with the amphibole termite in Nokia communicators such as your own."
Kirk stared at him. "Do you have the answer to everything?"
"I do not pretend to be a walking encyclopedia—"
"Could have fooled me," Kirk muttered.
"—but I am extremely intelligent. To utilize metaphor, my reservoirs of knowledge are deep."
"Great. Let me know how that goes." Kirk pulled Chekov off of him. "Go talk to Sulu," he said. "I'm going to go back to check on them. I don't know how long this is going to take, so you guys just hang out here, okay?"
"Okay," said Spock innocently, trying to sound like he wasn't mocking Kirk.
Kirk glared at him and trudged back to the makeshift hospital.
x
Eleen gave birth to a baby boy and was swept off with the child to the nearest hospital to meet the parents and undergo exhaustive exams. Before she left, Eleen made sure Kirk was cleared of assault so that he could ride back with the others. She actually smiled at Bones and nodded to Pike, who nodded back, his face blank, as Beverly wheeled her into the ambulance.
By the time they got back to San Francisco, it was midnight. Pike looked the most exhausted, but everybody thought Spock was probably more tired, considering he'd been passed out on Uhura's lap ever since they got on I-5. He twitched when he slept and nobody could talk to Uhura since she was busy gazing lovingly at his sleeping form, which made Kirk fake-retch and Bones slap him upside the head. Sulu fell asleep on Scotty's shoulder and Scotty carefully switched places with Chekov, who was feeling oddly protective of his friend.
"Wake up," Chekov whispered to Sulu when they were driving through West Portal. "Hikaru, we are close to home."
Sulu shifted and smiled blearily up at him. "Thought I fell asleep on Scotty," he muttered, sitting up and flattening his hair. "Where'd you come from?"
"Scotty's shoulder was getting numb," said Chekov. "In Russia, our limbs do not fall asleep."
Sulu laughed. "I'm sure they don't," he said.
When they had gotten out of the transport and put the Enterprise to bed, they went their separate ways under the beaming streetlights. Chekov leaned over and pecked Sulu quickly on the cheek, then rushed away, blushing furiously. Sulu stared after him, a huge grin on his face.
x