Enterprise High
being a high school AU of ST: XI
with many hijinks
and much angst
x
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Empath
x
This is the bitterest pain among men; to have much knowledge but no power.
—Herodotus
x
This is the way society works in the early 23rd century.
The older generation, the ones born in the late 22nd century and earlier, are as a rule conservative, although if anybody from the early 22nd century took a look at the conservative platform of the early 23rd century they would quickly develop aneurisms from shock, since all liberalism morphs into conservatism after a time. (The law marches ever onwards, ignoring politics.) Just as slaves were freed in the 1700 and 1800s, complete suffrage was granted to of-age citizens in the 1900s, marriage and freedom to worship was legalized for all citizens in the 2000s, and the medical revolution, wherein reproductive rights were finalized, occurred in the 2100s, the acceptance by society of deviancy is the civil rights movement of the 2200s.
The societal and sexual revolution of the 2000s that began with the Bell Riots was suppressed mid-cry in the uproar over Zefram Cochrane's warp drive and the subsequent first contact with the Vulcans, the first alien race the humans encountered. The treatment of humans as bodies that bleed, degenerate, and nurture is the rediscovered cause of this age. Pyong Ko discovered, at the end of the 21st century, the genetic sequences that inhibited the growth of cancer cells, and breakthrough after breakthrough occured for a full century afterwards. By the early 23rd century, humans are living well into their hundreds—but not happily and legally.
Deviancy: derivation from the norm. The norm is considered passé in pop culture, now, and even if it is not yet legal to have deconstructive surgery done on you and your spouse so that both of you walk in the same legs but still speak with different mouths, it will be legal, soon, once the old folks figure out that dominatrixes have been around since the Sumerians (an eye-opening site in the ancient city of Lagash was hidden from the world until the early 2000s) and take all of the "bed laws" (as the laws that limit the scope of human sexuality are called) off the books. In essence, deviancy is degage.
Which is why, as far as youthful society is concerned, Bones is in the right for shunning Kirk.
You do not insult deviancy, sexual or otherwise (though it is generally sexual deviancy that people are talking about), in the early 23rd century, just as starting in the 20th century you did not say the n-word, and in the 21st, the f-word ("fag," not "fuck"). It is politically correct, by now, to assume that everybody has their little (or big) kinks and quirks, and even though most people are still discomfited by what they enjoy, they are nevertheless allowed to enjoy these things with a minimal of ribbing and joking. The artless holdouts insisting on man-on-top missionary are regarded as products of the stone age (despite these holdouts being the leaders of the older generation; fashion is controlled by the young, and the young are always right) and generally ignored or pandered sarcastically to.
The exact nature of Bones's complaint with Kirk had yet to be established by their mutual friends. The only reason nobody was being rude to Kirk was because, according to Sulu, there was Something Going On with Kirk that nobody could quite figure out how to question him about, so everybody simply Did Not Deal With It, like typical teenagers were wont to do.
Still, they all had a vague idea of what was going on. It was common knowledge that Bones and Jocelyn had broken up because she had turned out to be a sexually uncooperative asshole, and it was beginning to look like the same thing had happened in Kirk and Bones's relationship. This surprised everybody somewhat: since Kirk was already known as being promiscuous, everybody assumed that he was not vanilla, and could in fact be categorized as chocolate strawberry caramel ribbon, with sprinkles and cookie dough (aka, as far from vanilla as you could get). Which could not be further from the truth.
Thankfully, there were other things going on at Enterprise High. Namely, the upcoming third race.
x
The Enterprise was beginning to be finished. The hoverclub worked less and drank more (at least when Pike wasn't around to corral them). Uhura accidentally poured Scotty's prized bourbon into the intake valve after Scotty had hidden the stuff in a canister of cetelium-seven, necessitating a week-long total overhaul that nearly caused Pike to exile Scotty to Delta Vega. Other than that, the progress made on the hovercar had been purely positive.
Scotty finally fed the hovercar's data into the school flight simulator for a test drive. Kirk, the new pilot, buckled himself in while Spock, possessing a hovering vidscreen like a ghost taking metaphysical control of a moth, circled his head impatiently.
The Enterprise blew up about thirty seconds into the sim.
Scotty sighed. Sulu looked impressed despite himself. They exchanged looks, one exasperated, the other amused.
Kirk stumbled out of the simulator with Spock's calm/frantic voice ringing in his ear, trying to clear his vision, which consisted mainly of sparkling stars.
"Do they have to make the explosions so realistic?" he asked Sulu, rubbing his eyes.
"Definitely," said Sulu confidently. "So shit like that doesn't happen on the real race track."
Spock was as incoherent as Spock would ever be.
"What," he said, shaping the word carefully with his throat and lips before ejecting it into the air, "were you doing?"
"Um?" offered Kirk worriedly, drawing back against the simulator. Spock loomed over him.
"All of the simulations you have run before this date have been—" Spock searched for a word.
"Normal? Good?"
"Sane," said Spock, almost pleadingly. "If I may inquire—what was that?"
"What?" said Kirk innocently. "I barely tapped that other hover. The Enterprise really shouldn't have exploded. Clearly the b-line is off. Scotty, you should get on that."
Scotty tried to reply, but Spock steamrollered him.
"You—barely tapped that other hover?" Spock shook his head hopelessly. "That is the absolute least of what you did in the simulator. Could you hear me attempting to communicate with you?"
"I gotta admit, I muted you after your comment about my acceleration speed."
"That was at the beginning of the simulation!"
"Yeah, well, you were distracting me."
"Distracting—! James. It is imperative that you understand that you are not allowed, on the track, to drive the Enterprise in the same manner as you have just demonstrated. Behavior such as you have exhibited would result unequivocally in the termination of your life."
"Only if we don't move the b-lines."
Scotty stepped in to prevent Kirk's certain death, since a disturbingly still expression was settling over Spock's face.
"Jim, maybe you could just try again, without th' theatrics this time?" said Scotty.
"Alright," Kirk shrugged.
Spock made a harrumph sort of noise and clicked on his vidscreen as Kirk climbed back into the simulator.
On the second sim, Kirk lasted a full three minutes before swerving between two very large hovers and being squashed like overripe fruit against their hulls.
"At least I didn't explode," said Kirk reasonably while Scotty reset the sim. "The seat ejected me. There was minimal death. No death at all, that is to say, which is how it should be."
Spock was busy covering his eyes with his hand despairingly and did not reply.
"We've got quite a while before the next race," Kirk continued optimistically. "Well, if you classify 'quite a while' as 'a week.' It's not like I can't drive a hover. I did real life practice runs in the Enterprise four times last month, you know."
"I am considering requesting that Mr. Pike reinstate me as president," said Spock through gritted teeth.
"Hey, you said yourself that it would be better for me to pilot," said Kirk. "Nero, remember?"
"Believe me, I am continually reminding myself," said Spock. "However, it is not helping. You need to be safe, James. And more importantly, you need to not destroy the hovercar."
"Ah like your priorities, Spock," said Scotty. "Up for a third go, Jim?"
"Hell yes," said Kirk. He patted Spock on the cheek. "I'll drive careful, alright?"
Spock did not look particularly mollified by Kirk's reassurance. Sulu attempted to contain his giggles.
On the third sim, Kirk lasted the entire race—but came in thirtieth out of thirty-six.
"Look," said Kirk frankly to Spock, getting out of the simulator. "You've got two choices here. Either let me drive the way I always do and suffer the consequences, or force me to drive safely and risk not qualifying for the next round."
"I am requesting reinstatement from Mr. Pike," said Spock, fixing Kirk with a pointed glare.
"Good luck with that," said Kirk coyly. "I'll be in the sim, alright? Let me know how it goes."
Spock prowled off to Pike's room, where Pike turned down the request point blank.
"Spock, I was going to give the Enterprise to Jim even if you didn't, so I'm glad you did," said Pike, leaning tiredly over his desk. He had been in the middle of grading their homework from last night before Spock interrupted him. "You just can't go up against Nero in a race. I trust you more than any of my students, but nobody can trust emotions, and I know! I know you're half-Vulcan, but you've got to be almost incoherently angry at Nero. I'd be."
"You are human," said Spock shortly.
"Yes, but like I said, accidents happen, and I don't want you arrested on 'manslaughter' charges. This race is too good an opportunity for a smart kid like you to pass up."
Spock knew that they were both right. He stomped back to the simulator to see Kirk stepping out of it again.
"He turned you down, huh?" said Kirk, reading Spock's lack of expression immediately. "I've gone twice more since you left. Blew up the fourth round—not my fault; that wall came out of nowhere. Finished in second for the fifth round, but I think I broke a few laws of physics."
"You cannot change the laws of physics," Spock told him, answering Kirk's initial question by not answering it.
"That's what ah said," said Scotty in conspiratorial and rather alarmed aside to Spock. "But actually, ah think he might have, take a look at these readouts…"
Kirk kicked at the sim's hull while Spock spluttered over Kirk's improbable stats. Sulu wandered over to him.
"How's Leonard?" he asked.
Kirk made a face.
"Thought so," said Sulu sagely. "Have you tried to talk to him?"
"Of course I have," said Kirk. He looked like a kicked puppy. "He hates me. And he's allowed. I did nothing right. I insulted him and I cheated on him."
Sulu frowned. "I'd try to reassure you by saying that none of this is your fault, but it sounds like it is."
"Yeah. It is." Kirk frowned at the simulator. "How come you're not the pilot?" he said. "I thought you were going into Starfleet to drive space ships."
"I am," said Sulu, not minding the subject change. "I'm an amazing pilot, actually. But I don't do well in hovers. I started playing my sister's flying sim when I was three, and I didn't even know there was a 2-D mode until I was nine. I'm really used to three-dimensional piloting, so realistically I'm probably about as good as you on the hover. And you're pretty good, except, you know, insane."
"I am not insane!"
"Oh, no, you're definitely insane. I was watching you over Spock's shoulder. Quit trying to give him a heart attack, by the way. I know he's fun to mess with but I've seen him nerve pinch people for less."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He's scary."
"No shit."
Spock and Scotty eventually gave up on understanding Kirk's driving. Kirk got consistently better ("Less fuckin' deranged, at least," said Scotty, while Spock nodded in almost eager agreement) at driving the hover without dying, destroying something, or failing to qualify. Pike let him take the actual Enterprise out for a spin three times before the race. On each occasion, Kirk managed to destroy some small yet crucial part of the ship, but since he was so helpful in repairing it, Scotty never became particularly angry at him. (Although Spock did.)
The Thursday before the race, Chapel got up from latching in a panel, backed up, wiped her forehead on her sleeve, and stared at the hover.
"Guys," she said distinctly. "I think it's done."
Kirk, Spock, and Scotty were there. They all turned around from the blueprints they had been arguing over to stare at the Enterprise.
"She's bonnie," said Scotty softly. Spock glanced at Kirk, who was completely entranced by the hovercar.
"She is," said Kirk wonderingly. "I'd never realized."
Chapel watched from under her eyelashes as Spock took advantage of Kirk's distraction to rake his eyes over Kirk's form. Kirk looked exhausted: he and Spock had been working on the Enterprise non-stop for the past month. She didn't know how their grades had stayed high; she had nearly gotten a B on a med quiz the other day because she had been helping them out so much. The skin under Kirk's eyes was dark and stood out against his unusual paleness. His thin white t-shirt was greasy and his blue jeans were so faded they were almost white. He seemed extremely young, she thought, and so vulnerable, tired as he was.
"You should continue home so that you may rest yourself," said Spock, putting a hand lightly on Kirk's shoulder. Spock felt Kirk's shoulders relax, falling out of tension at his touch. He studied the line of Kirk's neck; the way his mastoid muscles framed the hollow of his throat, and the glossy sweat resting on his collarbones.
"I'm okay," said Kirk absently, slipping out from under Spock's hand and walking towards the Enterprise. He ran a hand far across her hull.
"She could do with a bit of cleanin'," said Scotty, poking his head into the cockpit and reading a screen, "but other than that, she's pure dead brilliant."
"I can wipe it down," said Chapel, rubbing her hands on a rag and thinking she might never understand boys and their obsession with things that went fast. She was in the hoverclub for the social aspect, and also because she liked manual labor for some ungodly reason.
"Nay, lass, 'tis th' pilot's job," said Scotty. He winked at Chapel and nodded to Spock, who seemed mesmerized by Kirk. "Ah'll be goin', now," he said, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. "See the two of you tomorrow."
"Yeah, bye," added Chapel, snatching her backpack. She hooked her arm through Scotty's as they passed through the door, grinning at each other.
Kirk was silent for five minutes. He walked around the entire Enterprise, inspecting every rivulet and seam, while Spock stared at Kirk's back.
"Driving the Enterprise is a serious job," Spock said at last, into the stillness. His words echoed around the room and reverberated off the hover, resonant into Kirk's ears. Kirk looked up at him, expecting distrust or sternness. Instead, Spock's expression was almost kind. His eyes were wider than usual, so that his words became more open and sincere. "Do you think you are capable of performing the job admirably?" he asked.
Kirk looked from the Enterprise to Spock, considering the question with unexpected gravitas. He waited a moment to answer, composing the reply in his mind.
"I may still treat the race differently than you would," he said to Spock. "But it's important that you understand how heavily the responsibility weighs on me. It means something significant that Pike thought to promote me, and that you don't hate me too much as your replacement." Kirk leaned with ease against the hovercar, positively exuding confidence. "I'll win," he said. "I swear it."
"That is exactly what I wished to hear," said Spock, and if Kirk didn't know better, he would swear that the corners of Spock's mouth turned up a little in a smile.
x
The third race was in Sacramento, late on a Saturday evening, which meant that Pike got them a hotel for Saturday night. Everybody took the news about the hotel in their own distinct ways: Kirk winked cheekily at Chapel, who giggled, and Bones glared at the two of them. Spock was impassive, Sulu and Chekov missed each other's appraising looks, Uhura grinned, and Scotty just kept eating his sandwich.
"Should be an interesting weekend," said Uhura, waggling her eyebrows at Chapel as they boarded the bus Saturday noon. "Any plans for seduction?"
"Yup," said Chapel, producing a box of premium Andorian chocolates and tossing them to Uhura. "You."
Uhura blinked at the chocolates, then at Chapel. She had paused in the middle of the transport to do the blinking. Chapel beamed at her.
"We have a room to ourselves all night," said Chapel matter-of-factly. "You interested?"
"Yes," said Uhura earnestly, snapping open the box of chocolates and popping one into her mouth. "I haven't had sex in ages. I mean, it's been weeks."
"I have to admit, I have ulterior motives," said Chapel conspiratorially. "I get to tease Leo with the image of us going at it."
"Tease me with what, now?" said Bones from behind Chapel. She turned around to find him looming over her, his bag slung over his back and his usual grumpy expression plastered over his face.
"With the idea of Nyota and I alone in a strange, scary hotel room all on our own tonight," simpered Chapel. "We might be forced to take comfort in each other."
Bones turned pink. "That'd be a damned shame," he muttered, dumping his bag into the storage bin and grabbing the nearest seat.
"What, us taking comfort in each other?" said Uhura, immediately offended.
"No, you two bein' alone," said Bones distinctly. He blinked owlishly at the two of them. "Really, if y'all need any, uh, help, I'm a good friend—I can sacrifice my sleep to reassure you." He coughed. "With sex."
"You're too sweet," said Chapel, patting Bones's cheek fondly. "You'd do that for us?"
"I would," said Bones solemnly. "Scout's honor."
"Weren't you and Jim in Boy Scouts, when you were kids?" said Chapel, trying to remember.
Bones let out a sharp laugh. "Listen, Chris, Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout."
Chapel grinned. "Sorry I brought him up," she said, not sounding like she was.
Bones shrugged. "It's alright. I'm just ignorin' his physical existence right now."
"I see. Plan on speaking to him any time soon?"
"Nope. Don't see why I'd need to ever exchange words with him again," said Bones.
Chapel automatically glanced to the front of the bus. Sulu and Chekov were just getting on, followed by Scotty. Spock was already seated in the back of the transport—he had arrived first, of course. Kirk was nowhere to be seen.
"He's late," said Chapel.
"It'd be a damned shame if he didn't come," said Bones nastily.
"You could at least pretend to be concerned," chided Chapel. "I mean, if Jim's not here, Hikaru will have to drive."
"Hey," said Sulu indignantly from the front. "I'm an awesome pilot."
"Yeah, but you're not as creative as Kirk," said Chapel.
"That's a good thing?" said Sulu incredulously. "I thought we wanted to win, not die in a fire. Or something equally horrible. Did you see Jim's sim stats?"
"Yeah, what was up with the fifth one? I thought force equaled mass times acceleration."
Scotty, who had just sat down next to Bones, shuddered. "Ah think a wormhole waltzed through th' system durin' th' fifth sim," he said. "'Tis th' only way ah can explain it."
"I looked the stats ower, and they made my mind hurt," Chekov piped up. "When Jim gets here, we will ask him how he has done such a thing, since such a thing cannot generally be done."
Pike stuck his head into the transport. "Everybody in?"
"James has yet to arrive, sir," called Spock.
"Really?" said Pike, puzzled. "Weird. One of you call him, okay?"
"On it," said Sulu, whipping out his communicator. Spock and Uhura, who had been reaching for their comms, were surprised.
"You two are friends, now?" said Uhura as the number dialed.
"We see eye to eye on certain issues," said Sulu. He glanced up to see where Chekov was and whispered, "Mainly I want to know how he got into Pavel's pants so fast." His communicator buzzed as a voice on the other end said, "Hello?"
"Oh, hey, Jim. Where are you?"
"On my way. Sorry. Tell Pike I'll be there in two minutes."
Pike shrugged at the news and went back outside to make sure the Enterprise was secure on its holder for the eighth time. Kirk barreled into the parking lot minutes later, screeching to a halt on his motorcycle and jogging over to the transport. He gave everybody a casual wave from the front of the vehicle, made his way to the back, and crashed down next to Spock.
"Dude," he said, in greeting.
"James," said Spock politely. "You are late."
"Yup. Family matters," said Kirk, heaving his bag into the storage bin. "Aurelan lost her job."
"Aurelan?"
"My brother Sam's girlfriend. She's pregnant. They live in Austin," said Kirk succinctly. "Aurelan's a rad-lab tech, and her supervisor didn't want any lawsuits over deformed babies."
"I thought that terminating employment based on gravid status was illegal in the Federation," said Spock.
"It is," said Kirk. "For one, she didn't really like the job that much, and for another, it's not like they have enough money to sue. Anyway, they're moving here in about a month. Just in time for Thanksgiving. You'd like Sam, he turned out to be a bit of a biology geek."
"What is his age?"
"He's twenty-one. Four years older than me. I think Aurelean's twenty, maybe nineteen? They're both too young to get married. But I think Sam is planning on asking her."
"The child she is carrying—it is his?"
"Yeah." Kirk gazed out the window. Pike had just started the transport and was pulling out of the parking lot. "Do you have any siblings?"
Spock hesitated. "Yes," he said finally. "A half brother. I have not seen him since I was very young."
There was something in his tone of voice that made Kirk end the line of questioning there.
The hoverclub ended up playing Do, Marry, or Kill on the way to Sacramento, which was interesting, to say the least. The game consisted of one of them coming up with three different people—for instance, Scotty provided three powerful Federation politicians: Natira Yonada (the stubborn human President of the Federation), Barda (the calm Vulcan Vice President), and Shahna (a Tirat and famously belligerent Justice)—and having the others decide which of the three they would have sex with, spend the rest of their lives with, or get rid of.
It became a joke that Kirk had his answers ready immediately ("Shahna, Barda, Yonada, no question."), Uhura thought about hers for ridiculously long amounts of time ("Okay, okay, Yonada, Barda, Shahna. God, guys, don't rush me."), McCoy had strange tastes ("Barda, Yonada, Shahna." "You'd marry Yonada?" "Yeah, what of it?"), and Spock all but refused to play ("Although I am averse to killing any—" "Get on with it!" "I simply wanted to state that the termination of a life simply because—" "Oh my God, we're going to terminate your life. Who did you choose?" "I selected Justice Shahna as a potential 'one-night stand,' as you would say, and Vice President Barda as my partner in marriage. President Yonada—regrettably—is fated to die." "You are so melodramatic.").
They arrived in Sacramento for a long, late lunch and unloaded the hovercar at the Sac State racetrack hours before it was necessary. Kirk took the Enterprise around the smaller practice track a few times. Scotty made last-minute adjustments and showed everybody the screen he had built for the ground crew to watch. It showed all of the readouts Kirk could see in the cockpit on a largish, portable PADD.
The other hoverclubs started trickling in at around six. The race began at eight and would be lit by cool floodlights illuminating the long, winding track. The Sacramento State track was not as hilly and woody as the UC Riverside one, nor was it as straight-and-narrow as the UCLA course. The track was artificially difficult: it was the first race to be held on concrete (the others has been on closely-mown grass) and was famously curvy, with a short width—only four to five hovers across where the others had been eight to ten—and a notorious wind tunnel near the end that tended to buffer even professional hovercar drivers into each other.
For a while, Kirk and Spock watched the other hoverclubs line up and check out their vehicles. Spock left before Kirk had even noticed that the Pride High club was unloading their hover at a bay nearby. He came back fifteen minutes later, once Pride had disappeared off to their section, and took up his old place next to Kirk. He was expressionless, but his knuckles were white around the rail he leaned against.
"You wouldn't mind if I accidentally killed Nero today, would you?" said Kirk lightly, watching Spock's hands.
"That is not the case," said Spock, attempting composure. "I would mind greatly that I would not be able to do the deed myself."
"Alright," said Kirk pleasantly. "I'll save him for you. Sound good?"
"Wonderful," said Spock. He spotted a thick golden ship surrounded by a large group of students. "That is the Lexington," he told Kirk. "You need to watch out for her. She placed first in the first race and third in the second. The Stewart, also—that long blue craft, with the silver thrusters—and the Negh'Var, the Klingon ship—they are worthy opponents. The Constellation can be alarmingly unpredictable at times, but that should not bother you unduly."
Kirk laughed. "I think they'll find me alarmingly unpredictable at times, wouldn't you agree?"
"I would hazard to say so, yes," said Spock, with the slightest of smiles.
When the time came for the pilots to move their hovers to the starting line, only Bones did not come to wish Kirk luck. They—Kirk and Bones—had been doing a good job of avoiding one another during the past couple of hours. Kirk mainly talked with Spock, Sulu, and Chekov, while Bones kept to Uhura, Chapel, and Scotty. Everyone was keenly aware of the conflict; it was palpable, at times, especially when Kirk talked to Bones or Bones was forced to communicate with Kirk. Occasionally, in the past few weeks, they had found themselves working on the same part of the hover. Bones would do so for as long as he could tolerate, never more than a few minutes, before switching to another task. He would give Kirk the tools or parts Kirk asked for wordlessly and would never ask Kirk for anything. Bones had not initiated conversation between them a single time since the breakup.
Pike wished Kirk luck and went off to see Dr. Eleen, apologizing that he would not be present for the start of the race. Kirk slapped (almost) everybody's hands through the window of the Enterprise until he came to Spock, who was last. He held out his hand almost eagerly to Spock, the sleeves of his flight jacket loose around his wrist. Spock did not raise his own hand. There was a severe frown pasted across his face.
"What?" said Kirk, sounding downtrodden—not to mention rather petulant—and lowering his hand. "What'd I do?"
"Nothing yet," said Spock sternly. "I wish to remind you, James, to be safe above all else."
"For you?" said Kirk, cheerful again. "Anything. It looks like we're getting to know each other, Spock."
"Indeed," said Spock softly.
Kirk rolled up the window, giving Spock a hearty thumbs-up. Spock wished, for a moment, that he had kissed Kirk on the cheek. Instead, he backed away, hands behind his back, and watched as Kirk drove to the starting line.
x
Here goes nothing, thought Kirk as the announcer called go.
He hit the accelerator harder than he normally did in his excitement and felt something pop.
Well, fuck, he thought, and then OW, as his restraints closed tightly around him, pinching and squeezing him everywhere.
Back at the viewing area, Scotty dropped the PADD.
Spock, who had taken over communications from Uhura simply because he did not trust Kirk, immediately spoke into his mike as Scotty fumbled on the floor for the PADD. "Base to Enterprise. Are you reading this?"
"Yup," said Kirk shortly. His voice sounded strained, even in the single syllable. "It's all good."
"All good—James, we need to affect repair."
"You know that's not possible," said Kirk tightly. "I'm alright. A little sore, but okay. Shit, I'm getting mown down out here. Mike silence, okay? Just let me concentrate."
"James—" Spock protested, but Kirk had cut the line.
"You can get him on the emergency frequency," said Uhura, wide-eyed beside Spock.
"We will save that for later," said Spock. He turned sharply to Scotty. "How did this happen?"
"Ah have no idea," said Scotty sadly, gazing at the PADD with hangdog eyes. "But Jim's right—this isn't somethin' we can fix."
What had happened was pretty bad. The driver's seats in all of the hovercars were equipped with ejection packs in case of an accident. According to the rules of the competition, it was illegal to operate a hovercar in a race without an ejector seat. Kirk's seat had, of course, come unmoored under him in his rapid acceleration to six hundred miles per hour, rendering the ejector part of the seat useless. He was slightly crushed by the restraints wrapped around him, but otherwise uninjured and able to drive.
There were thirty-six hovercars in the third race. The cutoff point for the next round was twenty-fourth place, and Kirk was flying at twentieth. After his huge initial acceleration, Kirk had been forced to drop back some as he shifted around in his suddenly unsteady seat and hastily checked out the rest of the stats.
However, the Enterprise was perfectly functional, aside from its brand-new safety flaw. In fact, the Enterprise was more functional than she had ever been. The first iteration of the Enterprise, although complete, was not as fast or maneuverable as the second version, which had not been finished in time for the second race. But now, the Enterprise was perfect, speedy and strong. She was absolutely one of the best hovers in the field.
Kirk realized this, and the gleeful expression that swept across his face would have terrified Spock if he could have seen it. Recklessly he pressed the accelerator, surging into fifteenth place.
x
"Well, what do we do?" Bones demanded of Spock. "You want to report this, don't you? But you know that if we go to the officials, we'll have to forfeit."
"You are choosing to take James's side?" said Spock, surprised.
"I worked on that goddamn hovercar as long as all of y'all did," said Bones angrily, motioning to the still hoverclub, who were watching the discussion with wide-eyes. "I want us to win, no matter what."
"As do I, but I do not wish for James to die attempting to win," said Spock calmly. "The logical action at this point is to report the occurrence to the racing officials. We will be disqualified, yes. But James could lose his life flying without the ejector seat. The sooner we go to the officials, the sooner we can get him off of the track."
"Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" Bones demanded sharply. "If Jim thinks he can do it, he can. No matter what I think of him right now, I know he's a damn good pilot. You can fly the Enterprise to a win when she's half-broken, sure, but he can take best advantage of her speed and handling. He can get us first place in this race, Spock. He can set us up square for the next round." Bones paused significantly. "He can beat Nero," he continued. "He's got the heart for it, and the reflexes. You might not realize this yet, but very occasionally, Jim Kirk takes somethin' seriously, and when he does, he does it right."
Spock eyed Bones. "Do you trust him?" he asked.
"Not even as far as he could throw me," said Bones. "But that doesn't mean he'll screw us over." He paused. "That might have been a bad choice of words," he added with black humor.
Uhura let out a nervous little giggle.
"Let me put it this way," continued Bones in a final sort of tone. "That kid doesn't know how to lose. Just isn't in his DNA. Back home we have a saying: 'If you're gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, don't leave your prize stallion in the stable.'"
"A curious metaphor," said Spock, raising his eyebrow. "But apt." He let his expression fall, looking almost defeated. "I will allow this," he sighed. "In fact, I will facilitate it. However, let it be known that I do not approve." He held out his hand wordlessly to Scotty, who handed him the stat-screen PADD. "I will need a screwdriver, three PADDs on the local network, and Pavel," he said to the room. "Nyota, would you take the communicator? And, when Mr. Pike returns, please do not inform him of what has occurred."
Bones actually smiled at him. "So you do break the rules."
"I have no comment on the matter," Spock said imperiously, settling down on the floor as Chapel and Sulu handed him the PADDs. Chekov, clutching one of Scotty's spare screwdrivers, sat beside him.
"What are we doing?" Chekov asked curiously.
"Nothing illegal," said Spock, opening the back of one of the PADDs. He added quietly, "I think."
x
Kirk was in heaven. The Enterprise obeyed his every command smoothly and simply, gliding through the other hovers like a snake across wet leaves. The speed gripped him. The closeness of the other ships made his adrenaline spike ten tines a minute as he danced through the pack, rising and falling in the ranks. He was not simply driving, like Spock had, but flying. He searched not for an advantageous spot in the lineup, but for an interesting one. The hovers around were cautious, but not annoyingly so. He waved happily at their pilots as he passed them.
The Enterprise ate up the track, reaching the top ten a quarter of the way through the race. The Lexington and the Defiant were battling for first and second. The Narada hovered in the top five, surging viciously towards any hover that came too close. Nero was increasingly irritated by the Constellation, which kept switching lanes indecisively, cutting the Narada off.
Kirk watched, feeling his stomach go cold, as the Narada swooped in front of the Constellation and fired its back thrusters, effectively braking in the middle of the track. The pilot of the Constellation whipped her ship around and barely missed smashing into the Narada. She swerved instead into the Stewart, destroying both hovercars instantly. The pilots were ejected into the atmosphere, free of the debris. Kirk twisted the wheel, avoiding the wreckage easily. A piece of wing hit the Voyager, a slower ship that stayed back in the races yet placed well, but did not disable it.
A slow rage flowed over Kirk. Nero had just taken out two of the best hovers in the competition simply because he was annoyed.
"This may not be the time," said a dispassionate voice over the emergency frequency, "but I wanted to tell you that there is no pressure on you to finish this race. You could be hurt, or killed, and none of us want that to happen."
"That you, Spock?" said Kirk, knowing how cold his own tone was. "I'm fine. I've got this." He curled his hands around the thrusters, pressing the engines hard. "I'm going to prove a goddamn point by beating that piece of shit. He can't mess with people like that. He can't bully them—he can't bully us."
There was no reply.
Kirk swept up the course until he was parallel to the Narada, his place flashing constantly between fourth and fifth on the screens. Nero ignored him—the Narada stayed on track. Kirk stared over at the spiky ship, wishing he could see into its cockpit, but the sharp tentacles around the central structure obstructed all view into the craft.
They stayed like that, in alternating fourth and fifth, until the tail end of the race, right before the wind tunnel. Kirk and Nero made their moves at the same time.
Kirk knew he had to get ahead of everybody before the ships hit the wind tunnel, which might buffet them into each other. He swooped around the Negh'Var, listening as its engines roared angrily. The Lexington moved into the middle of the aisle, trying to block him, but Kirk feinted to one side, drawing the Lexington to the left, before darting through the opening near the wall on the right. The Defiant was on the other side of the Lexington, and further back, which meant that the Enterprise was in first.
The Narada barreled down the track. Kirk watched in his back mirrors as it ate up the ground, surging past the Negh'Var so close that they tapped fuselages. The pilot of the Negh'Var tried to fly aggressively, but the Narada lashed out at it, its side-spikes coming within inches of the Negh'Var's comparatively fragile semi-steel siding. The Negh'Var backed off and the Narada dashed forwards. Then, as one, the pack turned into the wind tunnel.
The wind tunnel was an accidental obstacle created by the half-pipe nature of the course and the decorative wire structure overhead. The Sacramento winds, generally calm, rushed over a toxic combination of ridges until they hit the edge of the racetrack and swept inwards, wreaking about forty seconds of pure havoc on the drivers inside of the tunnel.
The Enterprise growled under Kirk, the controls twitching. Swearing, Kirk shoved the hover forwards, dropping his speed so that he would have more control and trying to steer in a straight line. It was nearly impossible. The Lexington, which was heavier than the Enterprise, snuck past, reclaiming first, and the Narada, which seemed almost unaffected by the winds because of its unique design, followed the Lexington, taking second place from the Enterprise.
The walls of the half-pipe curved down and disappeared as the regular track reestablished itself. The Enterprise stopped twisting around and Kirk sped up again frantically, but the Lexington was too far forward. The finish line was in sight.
James Kirk was nothing if not innovative. The Lexington was unbeatable: it would place first again, and there was no way to get in front of it. But the Narada was tantalizingly close to the Enterprise, and there was something Kirk could do about that.
Kirk reached underneath the controls and unplugged two cords. The Enterprise's secondary engine, a lanthanoid magnet surrounded by pivoting iron bands, fueled the interior electronics that were not particularly useful to the actual movement of the vehicle. It was this engine that Kirk cut off. The lights and screens in the cockpit went dead.
Kirk accelerated as smoothly as he could towards the Narada, unnerved by the sudden silence in the cockpit. All of his nonessential systems were offline. He had not realized how comforting the echoing beeps of his instruments were.
The lanthanoid magnet had stopped spinning by this point. Kirk prayed that his gamble had worked and fumbled under the controls for another set of wires, which he managed to spark together with one hand.
The magnet reactivated, tugging at all of the nearby heavy metal. The archanite shield surrounding the Enterprise's primary engine protected the cobalt and iron within it, and the gurian alloy that made up the ship's hull was impervious to magnetic attraction. But the Narada, wrought from iron and copper, did not stand a chance against the powerful magnet. The Pride High ship slowed as it was pulled inexorably towards the Enterprise, which sped up.
Kirk took a long, beautiful moment to imagine Nero's expression as the Enterprise approached the Narada at a collision course. Mere seconds before the two ships collided, Kirk plugged in the secondary engine, resetting the magnet. The Enterprise sprung forward as it was released from the magnet's pull.
Nero fought to accelerate, but it was too late. The Enterprise crossed the finish line scant seconds after the Lexington and just a moment before the Narada.
x
"Sorry I took so long," Pike panted, bursting into the observation room. He stopped when he saw everybody staring at him. "What is going on?"
"James is being reckless," said Spock dryly from the floor. "And we are worried. All is as usual."
Pike glanced around the room. Everybody had looked quickly away from him and back at the race, which they were watching from a small complex built a few meters above the track. He frowned, suspicious.
"What are you two doing?" he demanded of Spock and Chekov, who had four good-sized PADDs open before them and were tinkering with the insides.
"The screen that Scotty made for us to watch the statistics for the Enterprise—it broke," said Chekov sadly, holding up the blank PADD. "Spock and I are trying to fix it."
"Ah," said Pike, relaxing a bit. "Okay then." He crossed to the window, searching for the pack of hovers out on the track. "How is Jim doing?"
"Not half bad," said Scotty. "High up there, but not past the Narada. They're about to go into the wind tunnel."
The hoverclub watched as Kirk passed and then fell behind the Narada. The room was absolutely quiet. Spock felt in his bones the need to go over and watch the race, but he kept himself occupied by the PADDs, nudging Chekov whenever he, as well, got too distracted by the race.
Just before Kirk deactivated the second engine, Spock turned one of the PADDs on. Chekov activated another, and Spock typed a code into it. They watched as a screen loaded, then disappeared, then loaded again.
"Done," said Chekov guilelessly, switching that PADD off and picking up Scotty's viewscreen. "Just in time for the finish."
Spock cleared away the remnants of his rulebreaking as Kirk barreled across the finish line in second place.
x
Kirk climbed out of the Enterprise, ran a hand sweetly across her brow, and stalked over to where the Narada was parked.
"Nero," he said coolly, coming to a halt a few meters from the spectral hovercraft. Nero, clad as usual in black, stood with his arms crossed next to the Narada, watching Kirk approach. His dark eyes were narrowed dangerously.
"Jim," said Nero, his tone almost light. "How are you?"
"Not well, thanks," said Kirk. "That was a bitch move back there, blowing up the Constellation and the Stewart."
"Whereas your blatant cheating will not go unpunished," said Nero casually. He inspected his long fingernails. Kirk thought he looked effectively threatening in his leather flightsuit.
"You will find that nowhere in the rules does it say anything about magnetic interference with another craft," said Kirk. "Though they might be amending that."
"I should think so," said Nero. He uncrossed his arms and straightened, becoming markedly taller as his spine uncurved. His brows narrowed, emphasizing the sharp black tattoos scattered around his weathered face. "You will hear me, Jim," he said in a dire voice. "I will allow this incident with the magnet to pass, simply because you were revenging yourself upon me for the sake of your friend Spock. We have both qualified for the next round, which is what matters. But during the next round, if you try anything, I will take action against you."
Kirk smiled, thin and dangerous. "Bitch," he said, "please."
Nero's face went still. He was about to reply when a few members of his hoverclub rushed up to him and started talking, their alien faces twisting in foreign, unknowable expressions. Kirk backed away. Nero watched him go, a mad glint in his eyes.
Uhura and Chapel were the first ones to the Enterprise. They let out twin screams when they saw Kirk and threw their arms around him, hugging him and congratulating him. He laughed, the tension easing from him immediately, and hugged them back. Scotty and Chekov hugged him too, and Spock and Pike clapped him between the shoulder blades. Bones hung back, but he shot Kirk a very small smile, although he scowled heavily afterwards.
"You did a good job," said Pike, and Kirk would never admit it to anybody, but he felt his heart swell at Pike's words. "That was a great race. Now let's go make sure they don't disqualify you for that magnet incident."
"They won't," said Kirk, grinning. "I'll be fine." As he was saying that, something absolutely terrible occurred to him. He felt the prideful bubble inside him burst abruptly. He excused himself from Pike and hurried over to Spock.
"The seat," Kirk said desperately, grabbing Spock's arm. "We have to submit the electronic log after the race. They'll see that the ejector seat wasn't online during the race. I didn't even think of that."
"I did," said Spock smoothly. "I accessed the log during the race and rewrote it. The seat will register as being operative, and we will not be disqualified."
Kirk gaped at him.
"Did you really?"
"Yes, Pavel and I did."
Kirk shook his head slowly, a grin spreading over his face. "Going back in the log? Changing the stats? That's cheating."
Spock acknowledged this with an almost shy nod. "A trick I learned from a new friend," he said.
x
Christopher Pike was an intelligent man. He understood how people worked and was good at playing their personalities against each other. But he had been having a hard time with people today. Or, at least, Julie Eleen, who he still wanted to throttle to death rather than speak to.
He had felt obligated to go see how she was, especially since they had parted on such good terms last time, although that could have been because the drugs they gave mothers after particularly difficult births were famously high in selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Actually, he quickly established that the reason they had parted on such good terms was, indeed, the SSRIs. They had a quick shouting-match in front of the judges' stand (shocking the rest of the track officials) about the same thing as ever—Eleen's behavior with Vina—before Pike stormed off to watch the remainder of the race with his hoverclub.
Pike was tired of people being bitchy, so when they got to the hotel, he dragged everybody into the quiet lobby after he had picked up their room chips and hiked a serious look onto his face.
"You guys all did very well today, you especially, Jim." He raised his eyebrows significantly. "But I'm going to need all of you to do something for me. By tomorrow morning, I would like Mr. Kirk and Mr. McCoy to be on speaking terms with each other."
There was a protracted silence.
"Excuse me?" said Bones at last, quite dangerously.
"I've had enough of you two tiptoeing around each other," snapped Pike. "Jim is doing a better job than you of acting as normal, but still, the situation is bad for club morale. So, you two are rooming together. The rest of you—here are three keys. As long as Nyota and Christine are together, I don't care about who's with who. Okay?"
Kirk and Bones gaped at him.
"Okay," said Pike firmly. "We're leaving at nine tomorrow. Be in the lobby for breakfast by eight thirty." He handed out the room chips. "Get to bed."
Kirk and Bones took their chips wordlessly. When they got to the elevators, Bones ducked into the stairwell and was already in the room by the time Kirk found it.
Scotty and Spock were rooming together. "Can I switch with you?" said Kirk softly to Scotty.
Scotty gave Spock a long look. "Our rooms are adjoinin'," Scotty said. "If needs be, you can switch with me. But for now, well, ah agree with Pike. You two should get whatever this is worked out."
Kirk couldn't even express how wrong that statement was. He sighed. "Okay," he said. "I'll try to resolve this. But if I can't, you're rooming with him."
"You have to actually try, lad."
"You think I haven't been?" snapped Kirk. He shook his head, calming himself. "Okay. I'm going in. Wish me luck."
"Luck," said Scotty. Spock merely nodded his encouragement.
Kirk unlocked the door and went in.
x
"Interested in eavesdroppin'?" Scotty asked, gesturing eagerly towards the door in front of his bed. It led into Kirk and Bones's room.
"Of course not," said Spock, highly offended.
"Too bad," said Scotty sympathetically. He set a small gray device against the corner of the door and poked a few buttons. "Here we are," he muttered gruffly, straightening. The device let out a few squeaks, then began transmitting the noise from the other room. "They say sloth is th' mother of invention," Scotty said wisely. "I'll tell you, Spock, they got it all wrong. 'Tis curiosity—always curiosity."
x
"Hi," Kirk tried, setting his bag down at the end of one of the two twin beds in the room. Bones was splayed out on the other, reading something on his PADD and definitely not looking at Kirk.
"We should talk," Kirk continued, undeterred. "You've got to speak to me at some point."
"I really don't," said Bones. "Would you just shut up and leave me alone?"
"Hey, that's something," said Kirk encouragingly. "Keep up the communication?"
"Yeah," said Bones coldly, "no. Fuckin' switch with Scotty already. He's not an asshole who cheats and insults people's sexual preferences." He lowered his PADD to actually glare at Kirk. "I still can't fuckin' believe you were so insensitive about that. Dammit, Jim, deviancy isn't somethin' you fuck around with."
"No pun intended?" said Kirk weakly. Bones just stared at him. "Okay, yes, you're entirely right. I'm very sorry. I feel so bad about all of this."
"I'm sure you do."
"I do! I just—I have a hard time with certain kinks, Bones. Domination especially. It's nothing against—"
Bones threw up his hands. "There you go again. Get out." Kirk didn't move. "Get OUT!" Bones shouted, getting out of bed and starting towards Kirk. Kirk grabbed his bag and fled back into the hallway, where he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to shove the panic down.
Scotty stuck his head out of his door. "Ah heard," he said sympathetically to Kirk. "Come on in. Ah'll go deal with Leo. Ah'm sorry."
"It's okay," said Kirk slowly. He hefted his bag over his shoulder and went into Scotty's room, feeling a bit calmer as soon as he saw Spock seated primly on the bed furthest from the door, watching both of them.
"Again, ah'm sorry," said Scotty, patting Kirk's shoulder kindly. "Ah'll see you two tomorrow." He traded room chips with Kirk and left.
Kirk threw his bag onto the floor near his bed and collapsed into the pillows, utterly exhausted. Spock watched him for a few moments before speaking.
"Why do you not simply tell Leonard about your past?" Spock asked.
Kirk raised his head slowly. "What do you mean?" he asked warily.
Spock shifted uncomfortably on the bed. He was already in his nightclothes and had set out his clothes for the next day.
"You have been sexually abused," said Spock slowly. "Thus, your reluctance to accept deviancy."
Kirk stared at Spock, feeling the blood drain out of his face.
"What?" he said emptily. "What do you—" He stopped. He felt strange; almost numb.
"You show all of the psychological signs," said Spock gently. He shifted across his bed, moving his body closer to Kirk's side of the room. "You are promiscuous, yet you avoid long-term emotional entanglement. You also avoid sexual acts that are out of the norm. You are shockingly reckless and have a past record of, I assume, depression, judging by your attempt to commit suicide at a younger age. I am surprised that nobody else has noticed these symptoms. Are you still in contact with your abuser?"
Kirk had no idea what to say. He let out a funny little noise and put his head into the comforter for a moment, letting his breath warm his face. His heart was racing. He could not look at Spock. He fixed his eyes on the pillows strewn against the headboard of the bed.
"I'm not," he said shakily. "He's not—around—anymore. But I…. Spock, it wasn't sexual abuse."
Spock was surprised. "It was not?"
"No," said Kirk, feeling something deep inside of his brain break open. "Not—not really? It was never sexual. He never touched me. But it was sexual, in that the threat was always there."
Spock gazed at him.
"I understand," Spock said calmly. "It was psychological, and—physical?"
"Yes," said Kirk unsteadily. He finally looked up, meeting Spock's eyes. "Yes," he repeated softly.
"You have never told this to anybody," Spock guessed.
"Nobody," whispered Kirk.
Spock stood up, keeping his eyes locked on Kirk's. He took the two steps between their beds and sat on Kirk's. Kirk seemed small and far away. Spock reached out a hand to him, resting it on the small of Kirk's back. Kirk closed his eyes slowly and let his head fall onto the bed.
Kirk fell asleep that way, with Spock's fingers hot on his spine.
x