[Fic] "Request and Require" -- Star Trek: AOS
Summary: The Enterprise is on its third day surveying yet another uninhabited star system beyond the Federation's borders when they receive a highest priority message from the Confederacy of Surak. (575 words)
[ETA: The AO3 crosspost is now up!]
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Request and Require
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The Enterprise is on its third day surveying yet another uninhabited star system beyond the Federation's borders when they receive a highest priority message from the Confederacy of Surak, addressed to Kirk. This is slightly unusual, but not unheard of: the reestablished Vulcan Science Academy is always interested in the results of their exploration, and has occasionally submitted requests for particular experiments and observations to be carried out if they can be easily worked into the ship's itinerary.
Nyota gets three sentences into reading the transmission aloud on the bridge, at the captain's command, before they both realize what's going on and she snaps her teeth shut at the exact moment Kirk scrambles to his feet. After an interminable second, Kirk orders her and Spock to join him in the briefing room. Nyota deliberately doesn't meet anyone's eyes as the three of them walk off the abnormally silent bridge.
The surface, official content of the message is that Spock's presence is required for a pressing family matter. This is bullshit, since family crisis notifications don't come via Starfleet's command channels with Federation political codes attached, nor do they get addressed to ship captains rather than the family member in question, nor do they come with deliberately vague and misleading subject lines.
Spock's family is directly descended from Surak. His father is one of the few Elders who survived Vulcan's destruction. Spock is a minor token in some as-yet-unpublicized political struggle, and this summons is a veiled order calling him in to play his designated role.
"If you drop me at Starbase 65, I can arrange my own transport from there," Spock says, hands clasped neatly behind his back. "I should return within six standard weeks. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience, and the irregular method in which this notification was delivered."
When Kirk looks across the conference table, Nyota nods. He matches the gesture and turns back to face Spock. "Don't be ridiculous. We're all coming, and we're taking the ship with us. Starfleet is a peacekeeping organization, among its other directives, and I'm pretty sure that includes making sure one of the four founding species of the Federation doesn't implode its remnants out of misdirected spite."
"Sir," Spock begins. Stalls. Starts over. "Jim, I must--"
"You'd do the same for us," Nyota says. She rests her hand on the table, two outer fingers slightly curled under her palm to leave her index and middle fingers extended. "Something is clearly rotten in the state of Denmark" -- Kirk snorts at the reference, and she spares him a fleeting smile -- "and this ship and crew are your home and family as much as any of your blood relatives on Vik or Earth. Besides, we need to deliver our physical samples to the Academy sooner or later and it's more efficient to do so directly rather than via courier, particularly when that will speed your own journey as well."
"Logically, we're right," Kirk concludes.
Spock stares inscrutably at the two of them for several long seconds. Then he sighs, and drops into a chair. "Logically, I am outvoted," he corrects, but he makes no effort to hide the note of dry humor in his voice, and his fingers graze Nyota's for a bare moment as he pulls his seat in toward the conference table and Kirk begins speculating on what could have the Vulcans spooked enough to act so out of character.
They're stronger together, always.
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Inspired by the 11/15/15
15_minute_ficlets word #236: erratic
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So about that one non-canonical planetary name...
I continue to think that the name 'New Vulcan' is stupid and unimaginative, and also speaks to a terribly human-centric worldview. In my heart, the Vulcans' new homeworld will always be called Vik, something I picked up from
jacquez's amazing fic The Word for World Is--, which deals with the rebuilding of Vulcan culture after the disaster that nearly obliterated their people. (You should go read that story. It will stick with you for a long time.)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
[ETA: The AO3 crosspost is now up!]
---------------------------------------------
Request and Require
---------------------------------------------
The Enterprise is on its third day surveying yet another uninhabited star system beyond the Federation's borders when they receive a highest priority message from the Confederacy of Surak, addressed to Kirk. This is slightly unusual, but not unheard of: the reestablished Vulcan Science Academy is always interested in the results of their exploration, and has occasionally submitted requests for particular experiments and observations to be carried out if they can be easily worked into the ship's itinerary.
Nyota gets three sentences into reading the transmission aloud on the bridge, at the captain's command, before they both realize what's going on and she snaps her teeth shut at the exact moment Kirk scrambles to his feet. After an interminable second, Kirk orders her and Spock to join him in the briefing room. Nyota deliberately doesn't meet anyone's eyes as the three of them walk off the abnormally silent bridge.
The surface, official content of the message is that Spock's presence is required for a pressing family matter. This is bullshit, since family crisis notifications don't come via Starfleet's command channels with Federation political codes attached, nor do they get addressed to ship captains rather than the family member in question, nor do they come with deliberately vague and misleading subject lines.
Spock's family is directly descended from Surak. His father is one of the few Elders who survived Vulcan's destruction. Spock is a minor token in some as-yet-unpublicized political struggle, and this summons is a veiled order calling him in to play his designated role.
"If you drop me at Starbase 65, I can arrange my own transport from there," Spock says, hands clasped neatly behind his back. "I should return within six standard weeks. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience, and the irregular method in which this notification was delivered."
When Kirk looks across the conference table, Nyota nods. He matches the gesture and turns back to face Spock. "Don't be ridiculous. We're all coming, and we're taking the ship with us. Starfleet is a peacekeeping organization, among its other directives, and I'm pretty sure that includes making sure one of the four founding species of the Federation doesn't implode its remnants out of misdirected spite."
"Sir," Spock begins. Stalls. Starts over. "Jim, I must--"
"You'd do the same for us," Nyota says. She rests her hand on the table, two outer fingers slightly curled under her palm to leave her index and middle fingers extended. "Something is clearly rotten in the state of Denmark" -- Kirk snorts at the reference, and she spares him a fleeting smile -- "and this ship and crew are your home and family as much as any of your blood relatives on Vik or Earth. Besides, we need to deliver our physical samples to the Academy sooner or later and it's more efficient to do so directly rather than via courier, particularly when that will speed your own journey as well."
"Logically, we're right," Kirk concludes.
Spock stares inscrutably at the two of them for several long seconds. Then he sighs, and drops into a chair. "Logically, I am outvoted," he corrects, but he makes no effort to hide the note of dry humor in his voice, and his fingers graze Nyota's for a bare moment as he pulls his seat in toward the conference table and Kirk begins speculating on what could have the Vulcans spooked enough to act so out of character.
They're stronger together, always.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 11/15/15
15_minute_ficlets word #236: erratic
---------------------------------------------
So about that one non-canonical planetary name...
I continue to think that the name 'New Vulcan' is stupid and unimaginative, and also speaks to a terribly human-centric worldview. In my heart, the Vulcans' new homeworld will always be called Vik, something I picked up from
jacquez's amazing fic The Word for World Is--, which deals with the rebuilding of Vulcan culture after the disaster that nearly obliterated their people. (You should go read that story. It will stick with you for a long time.)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)