Jim buried his face in his hands, feeling the urge to scream in pure frustration. The wooden bench beneath him listed to one side on it's uneven legs. Or maybe it was the ground which was uneven. Somehow blaming the bench for the movement didn't feel right. Which, Jim knew, made almost no sense. He was sitting in a park surrounded by happy families with their happy laughter and carefree expressions. For the moment, their worries were put aside to enjoy the freedom of being outside and the joy of a loved ones presence. In contrast, Jim had just escaped yet another warning lecture from his supposed friends.
For the past few days, Spock and Gary had put aside their differences to gang up on him. He wasn't sure why they felt it necessary to constantly bombard him with ill warnings and lectures on the possibility of death in space. He didn't get it. For ages, Gary had been a little jumpy around Spock. Then he mentions his acceptance on the Tarsus mission and both of them instantly band together to what, discourage him? Lately they'd been spending more time with each other than with Jim.
Honestly, it hurt. He'd thought his friends would be supportive of his decision. Possibly even proud that he'd been chosen for such a mission at the end of their first year. It was the best of both worlds. One month on a starship to get to the Tarsus system, two months on planet and then another month back to Earth. He'd be getting invaluable experience. And he wouldn't even be alone. Phillip was assigned the same mission. There was always demand when one was a doctor. Or so he'd been told.
What pissed him off most though was that neither Gary, nor Spock, were going to be on Earth regardless.
Gary was off on a different planet based mission. It was about 16 hours away, a lot closer to Earth, but why would that even matter. Jim wasn't exactly planning to fuck up and get sent back.
Spock, on the other hand, had been accepted into a special training program of Archer's. From what he'd managed to squeeze out of Spock, it would be diplomatic and survival training in a remote, alien location. Apparently it pushed every participant out of their comfort zone. For Spock, Jim mused, it would probably mean a lot of water and group interaction. Served the bastard right. And he wasn't feeling the slightest bit insecure, knowing that Carol Marcus would be there too. It wasn't like he noticed the way she was always watching Spock. He didn't feel jealous when Spock seemed to enjoy her company and ask her over more often. It was only logical as they'd be spending a lot of time together in the near future. Without Jim around. It didn't make him feel queasy. Not at all.
He really needed to stop lying to himself.
Maybe then his supposed friends would tell him why they were set against him going to Tarsus. What was the worst that could happen?
"No mum, I'm fine. Just a little tired." Jim paused, holding the comm away from his ear as his mother's shrill voice shouted to someone in the background. "I've just had trouble sleeping. No big deal."
Jim picked up the duffel bag, navy straps contrasting with his tanned skin. He slipped it over his shoulder and glanced around his room one last time. His other hand still held the comm pressed to his ear. His mother was crying on the other side. Telling him what a beautiful baby he'd been and what a wonderful young man he was and how proud she was and how handsome he'd grown up to be and on it went. Jim was mildly concerned that his mother didn't appear to need oxygen to continue the litany of praises.
"Yes mum, I love you too, okay? I have to go now, Spock's waiting. Yes mum. I will. Okay. I'll comm you once a month. Yes, Spock set up an secure channel. Yes, I'm going to be contacting him regularly. Okay, I'll tell you if anything happens. I'd rather not be the centre of another diplomatic incident. Yes, mum. I love you. Bye." Jim snapped the comm closed with a little extra force, earning him an upraised eyebrow. He ignored Spock, moving around the Vulcan to set his bag in the trunk.
Since he'd run away -to a park for gods sakes- he'd been studiously ignoring his house mate. At the time he'd simply not wanted to deal with 20 questions and a lecture. Now, he was feeling more than a little upset Spock didn't try to get him to talk. He barely understood it himself. That was perhaps the crux of the problem. Jim didn't know why he was so upset. He just was. Until now he'd never understood the need for someone to run after you when you walked away. It had always been a 'girl thing'. Now he got it. He needed something from Spock. Some sign that he wasn't alone in this, whatever this was.
It appeared that he'd be leaving without it. Maybe Spock was eager to get rid of him and spend four months with his pretty British shadow. Maybe Jim was being petty and pathetic, two things Vulcans couldn't stand.
Spock parked the hovercar in a space designated to diplomatic vehicles, closest to the terminal. The slight breeze shifted the clan flags, a vicious le'matya ready to leap from the luxury material. It reminded him of T'Pau the last time he'd seen her. She was a scary woman. Reminded him of her grandson, actually. A dichotomy of logic and empathy, intelligence and keen instinct. Somehow it blended together to create two individuals with a sense of humour drier than the Sas-a-shar desert where they'd first met.
Jim's door opened and he stepped out, taking the bag from Spock and just standing there in awkward silence. It made Jim twitch. He wanted to say something, do something stupid, anything to fill the oppressive silence.
"Jim! Jim!" Gary shouted from across the car park, hurrying over and waving his hands frantically. "Please don't go. Please. Something terrible's going to happen, I know it. I just know it." Gary looked into Jim's eyes imploringly, begging for his warnings to be taken seriously. It made Jim feel a little off. His friend hadn't stopped the barrage of warnings. He simply claimed to have a really bad feeling. And although Jim was one to take 'bad feelings' more seriously than the average man, he couldn't put his life on hold for them.
"Gary. Everything will be fine." He said, carefully enunciating each word to convey his conviction. Beside him, Spock stiffened at the words and shared a loaded look with Gary. There was something they weren't telling him. Jim just knew it. And he hated it.
"Jim, I too feel uneasy about your assignment however, having known you significantly longer than Mr. Mitchell has, I know you will not reconsider." Spock seemed to struggle for a moment with what to say before continuing.
"If you miss a check in, for any reason, I will not hesitate to inform your mother." The threat hung in the air between them, charged with the knowledge of the total clusterfuck Winona -and by default, Amanda- would rain down on the poor Tarsus system.
"I get it. Check in, follow my gut, don't do anything illogical and don't take candy from a stranger." Jim huffed, silently glad Spock was talking to him again but too proud to show it. Maybe things wouldn't be so terrible after all.
However the twin premonitions refused to leave his mind. Even in space dock, changing into the gold shirt and taking his place at his station, the words stuck with him. It was true. In all the years Jim had known him, Spock rarely acted on instinct. Spock did consider both instinctual response and logic before making a decision. However, a Vulcan would never admit to it. And Gary was known for his uncanny ability to know things, feel things, before anyone else did.
Jim's fingers tapped over the screen in front of him, inputting his data and calibrating the system to his preferred settings. The console beeped as a hand closed around Jim's shoulder, startling him.
"Holy Seleya Phil, don't sneak up on people like that." Jim sighed, hand over his rapidly beating heart. His older friend just laughed and leaned back against Jim's workspace.
"Gary get you jumpy?" Phil asked with a chuckle, drawing the attention of the communications officer to Jim's left. He smiled at her apologetically before turning to glare at his friend. How the other man had managed to weasel his way out of Gary's constant badgering was beyond Jim.
"It'll be fine kiddo, I have your back." With that, Phil walked over to the centre of the bridge and spoke in hushed tones to their captain. Jim watched the two interact for a while, noting the familiarity between them. He realised he hadn't spent as much time with Phil as he should have. He knew almost nothing about the man. A few months should be enough time to fix that.
For the moment, Jim could forget about the ominous cloud which had descended over their mission.
The Sas-a-shar desert is known to offworlders as the Vulcan Forge.
Sorry for the wait. I've been swamped. Anyone looking out for Entwine's next chapter should be happy to know I'm about to start writing it. I just need to post this. Expect it soon.
:D