TtM - Prompt #226 - Stranger in a Strange Land - Fish out of Water - STXI
Another week, another Taming the Muse (tamingthemuse) prompt. WEEK TEN - WORDCOUNT 1059
Title: Fish Out of Water
Fandom: STXI
Prompt: #226 - Stranger in a Strange Land
Warnings:
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Summary: The Enterprise happens upon a planet full of dead colonists, and one rather strange little Vulcan.
Disclaimer: blahblahblah not mine blahblahblah ya'll know the drill blahblahblah nobody reads this anyways blahblahblah
AN: I really really really was hoping this would turn out better than it did. I can't tell if it's finished yet or not, but I didn't want to start a massive epic and miss my Taming deadline. Maybe I'll continue it. Even if I don't, I like Bobby. He's named after my best guy friend from middle school who was a total fish out of water when it came to the rest of us humans, but he was awesome anyways.
Space was big. In fact, Jim and Sulu had once gotten into a drunken argument with Bones about exactly how big space was. Spock, who had watched with undisguised disdain, had won by quoting the latest formula for figuring the volume of the area encompassed by the Federation. Jim was of the opinion that he should have won for quoting the ancient writer Douglas Adams, but Bones sided with Sulu, that rat bastard.
Because of the size of space, and the fact that the Federation was still woefully short on starships, there were a lot of colonies that didn’t get checked regularly. Like M1337.94c, or as Jim kept trying to get everyone to call it, Planet Leet. Planet Leet had been settled around thirty years ago, but with all the crap going on with the Narada and Nero, it’s no wonder the scheduled check in had been missed by over a year. Starfleet didn’t actually have a policy on how often it checked in on civilian colonies, especially those outside of the danger zone.
They did, however, have policies on what to do if you show up on the planet just to find that everyone is dead. In fact, they had over two dozen policies, all of which Jim broke when he immediately ran to the center of town yelling for survivors.
Spock and Bones followed as quickly as they could, the doctor attempting to determine if they were in any danger from pathogens, and the Vulcan long-sufferingly trying to keep the number of protocols breached below twenty. Later, Spock would use that as an excuse for why he didn’t immediately notice the child clinging to Jim’s leg. It was McCoy’s fervent, “Son of a bitch!” that drew his attention to the small body, and more importantly the small pointed ears. Spock felt his spine stiffen in an attempt to compensate for the sudden shock. Jim stepped forward in concern, but the tiny Vulcan, for it had to be a Vulcan, cried out in fear, and he was visibly torn.
“I am unharmed, Captain.” McCoy snorted and ran a scan then swiftly injected him with something before he could even register the motion.
“He’ll live, Jim.” Dropping his voice, he shifted closer to the child cowering behind his friend, “Hey there, I’m Doctor McCoy, and this is Jim Kirk. You’re gonna be okay now.”
A single dark eye peeked around Jim’s hip, “You are being truthful. Why is he staring at me?”
McCoy glanced at Spock, but it was Jim who answered, “He’s just… caught off guard… is that politically correct enough, Spock?”
“The cause is sufficient, I believe, Captain.” All three adults turned and stared as the kid burst into giggles, and when he (she? They couldn’t tell for certain) saw them looking, he immediately fell silent.
“You laughed.” Jim sounded almost accusing, but the child didn’t take offense, simply laughing again.
“You are all color and light,” he replied cheerfully as if that made some kind of sense. It must have meant something to Spock, because he stiffened. “He doesn’t like that I know your colors. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend.” The last was addressed to both Jim and Spock, and the kid tucked himself closer to Jim’s leg.
“It’s okay,” Jim replied automatically.
“Captain, this child is a Vulcan, and as such has been utilizing telepathic abilities on you without your express permission.” Spock rumbled stiffly.
“You are a Vulcan and you have seen his colors.” The child frowned, looking vaguely insulted.
McCoy was observing the conversation like a tennis match, and running scans on everything he could without stepping too far away. “Hate to break up this lovely little Vulcan temper tantrum, but could we get back to figuring out what killed all the colonists. If you don’t mind, of course,” he mocked sarcastically.
“We didn’t all die. I’m alive, and Elisa.” The child glanced back down the road.
McCoy and Jim exchanged startled glances, “Do you remember what happened right before everyone else died? Were they sick? Did they send you and Elisa away?”
“What’s your name, anyways?” Jim asked.
“Bobby.” When the adults all stared in shock again, the little Vulcan flushed green and toed the ground. “That’s what everyone calls me. On my official papers it says Sroban, but I like Bobby better.”
“Is Elisa your mother?” Spock interjected, as they had seen no signs of Vulcanoid corpses.
Bobby laughed uproariously, “No! Elisa is my sister. Kinda. I don’t know where my mom and dad are. I’m the only one like me here.” He turned back to Bones, “They weren’t sick, not really. They were trying to find a way to be telepaths, too, like me and Elisa, but they kept getting headaches, and they got more and more tired, and then they just stopped.” His lower lip trembled as he looked up at Jim.
“Elisa is a telepath, too? Is she Vulcan?” That was McCoy, getting impatient as he ran scan after scan and found no sign of the mystery child.
“No, Elisa is…” the voice trailed off, and the child assumed a posture of listening. “Elisa says she’s human, but her mom said she had a really high psy rating. That’s why they took her off Earth when she was a baby.”
Jim looked down the road, then asked gently, “Is Elisa going to join us? I’m sure Bones would like to run a few scans just to make sure she’s healthy.”
“She’s on her way. She was getting fruit from the orchard.”
“Captain, according to our survey maps, the orchard is over three miles away.” Spock was practically twitching at the thought of so powerful an unknown telepath being nearby.
Bobby grinned, “Elisa’s strong, but she’s not that strong. It’s just cause we grew up together that she can talk to me all the time.”
“You were raised among humans, then?” Jim asked thoughtfully.
“Yup. Elisa’s mom and dad found me and took care of me.”
“And Elisa is your bonded mate,” Spock stated, almost wincing when the boy nodded cheerfully.
Jim glanced at Spock, noting how uncomfortable he was with this expressive, talkative, emotional creature. “Talk about stranger in a strange land… The Vulcan Council’s gonna have kittens over this.”
“Captain… While I must protest the plausibility of that statement, I find myself agreeing with the sentiment.”
Jim’s eyes crinkled as Bobby burst into laughter again, “It’s the thought that counts.”
Title: Fish Out of Water
Fandom: STXI
Prompt: #226 - Stranger in a Strange Land
Warnings:
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Summary: The Enterprise happens upon a planet full of dead colonists, and one rather strange little Vulcan.
Disclaimer: blahblahblah not mine blahblahblah ya'll know the drill blahblahblah nobody reads this anyways blahblahblah
AN: I really really really was hoping this would turn out better than it did. I can't tell if it's finished yet or not, but I didn't want to start a massive epic and miss my Taming deadline. Maybe I'll continue it. Even if I don't, I like Bobby. He's named after my best guy friend from middle school who was a total fish out of water when it came to the rest of us humans, but he was awesome anyways.
Space was big. In fact, Jim and Sulu had once gotten into a drunken argument with Bones about exactly how big space was. Spock, who had watched with undisguised disdain, had won by quoting the latest formula for figuring the volume of the area encompassed by the Federation. Jim was of the opinion that he should have won for quoting the ancient writer Douglas Adams, but Bones sided with Sulu, that rat bastard.
Because of the size of space, and the fact that the Federation was still woefully short on starships, there were a lot of colonies that didn’t get checked regularly. Like M1337.94c, or as Jim kept trying to get everyone to call it, Planet Leet. Planet Leet had been settled around thirty years ago, but with all the crap going on with the Narada and Nero, it’s no wonder the scheduled check in had been missed by over a year. Starfleet didn’t actually have a policy on how often it checked in on civilian colonies, especially those outside of the danger zone.
They did, however, have policies on what to do if you show up on the planet just to find that everyone is dead. In fact, they had over two dozen policies, all of which Jim broke when he immediately ran to the center of town yelling for survivors.
Spock and Bones followed as quickly as they could, the doctor attempting to determine if they were in any danger from pathogens, and the Vulcan long-sufferingly trying to keep the number of protocols breached below twenty. Later, Spock would use that as an excuse for why he didn’t immediately notice the child clinging to Jim’s leg. It was McCoy’s fervent, “Son of a bitch!” that drew his attention to the small body, and more importantly the small pointed ears. Spock felt his spine stiffen in an attempt to compensate for the sudden shock. Jim stepped forward in concern, but the tiny Vulcan, for it had to be a Vulcan, cried out in fear, and he was visibly torn.
“I am unharmed, Captain.” McCoy snorted and ran a scan then swiftly injected him with something before he could even register the motion.
“He’ll live, Jim.” Dropping his voice, he shifted closer to the child cowering behind his friend, “Hey there, I’m Doctor McCoy, and this is Jim Kirk. You’re gonna be okay now.”
A single dark eye peeked around Jim’s hip, “You are being truthful. Why is he staring at me?”
McCoy glanced at Spock, but it was Jim who answered, “He’s just… caught off guard… is that politically correct enough, Spock?”
“The cause is sufficient, I believe, Captain.” All three adults turned and stared as the kid burst into giggles, and when he (she? They couldn’t tell for certain) saw them looking, he immediately fell silent.
“You laughed.” Jim sounded almost accusing, but the child didn’t take offense, simply laughing again.
“You are all color and light,” he replied cheerfully as if that made some kind of sense. It must have meant something to Spock, because he stiffened. “He doesn’t like that I know your colors. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend.” The last was addressed to both Jim and Spock, and the kid tucked himself closer to Jim’s leg.
“It’s okay,” Jim replied automatically.
“Captain, this child is a Vulcan, and as such has been utilizing telepathic abilities on you without your express permission.” Spock rumbled stiffly.
“You are a Vulcan and you have seen his colors.” The child frowned, looking vaguely insulted.
McCoy was observing the conversation like a tennis match, and running scans on everything he could without stepping too far away. “Hate to break up this lovely little Vulcan temper tantrum, but could we get back to figuring out what killed all the colonists. If you don’t mind, of course,” he mocked sarcastically.
“We didn’t all die. I’m alive, and Elisa.” The child glanced back down the road.
McCoy and Jim exchanged startled glances, “Do you remember what happened right before everyone else died? Were they sick? Did they send you and Elisa away?”
“What’s your name, anyways?” Jim asked.
“Bobby.” When the adults all stared in shock again, the little Vulcan flushed green and toed the ground. “That’s what everyone calls me. On my official papers it says Sroban, but I like Bobby better.”
“Is Elisa your mother?” Spock interjected, as they had seen no signs of Vulcanoid corpses.
Bobby laughed uproariously, “No! Elisa is my sister. Kinda. I don’t know where my mom and dad are. I’m the only one like me here.” He turned back to Bones, “They weren’t sick, not really. They were trying to find a way to be telepaths, too, like me and Elisa, but they kept getting headaches, and they got more and more tired, and then they just stopped.” His lower lip trembled as he looked up at Jim.
“Elisa is a telepath, too? Is she Vulcan?” That was McCoy, getting impatient as he ran scan after scan and found no sign of the mystery child.
“No, Elisa is…” the voice trailed off, and the child assumed a posture of listening. “Elisa says she’s human, but her mom said she had a really high psy rating. That’s why they took her off Earth when she was a baby.”
Jim looked down the road, then asked gently, “Is Elisa going to join us? I’m sure Bones would like to run a few scans just to make sure she’s healthy.”
“She’s on her way. She was getting fruit from the orchard.”
“Captain, according to our survey maps, the orchard is over three miles away.” Spock was practically twitching at the thought of so powerful an unknown telepath being nearby.
Bobby grinned, “Elisa’s strong, but she’s not that strong. It’s just cause we grew up together that she can talk to me all the time.”
“You were raised among humans, then?” Jim asked thoughtfully.
“Yup. Elisa’s mom and dad found me and took care of me.”
“And Elisa is your bonded mate,” Spock stated, almost wincing when the boy nodded cheerfully.
Jim glanced at Spock, noting how uncomfortable he was with this expressive, talkative, emotional creature. “Talk about stranger in a strange land… The Vulcan Council’s gonna have kittens over this.”
“Captain… While I must protest the plausibility of that statement, I find myself agreeing with the sentiment.”
Jim’s eyes crinkled as Bobby burst into laughter again, “It’s the thought that counts.”