Journey to Babel - Chapter Six
Title: Journey to Babel
Author:
whatshouldntbe
Universe/Series: Part Four of 'What Shouldn't Be' series, Reboot/TOS
Rating: NC17/R
Relationship status: first time, unresolved sexual tension
Word count: 16000+ for this part, 115000+ so far
Plot: Love is a battlefield.
Warnings: always!girl Kirk, angst, action, character death, language, references to past child abuse, rom-com humor, sexual situations, violence, possible amateur world-building
Additional Pairings: Spock/Leila Kalomi (one-sided, unrequited)
Summary: During the second year of her captaincy, Jim Kirk experiences a closeness with Spock that comes as a surprise to both of them. Now comes a whole turmoil of emotions for both of them as they delve deeper into this fated relationship.
Chapter Six
They're not coming.
The people in that ship-they're not coming.
At least not anytime soon.
Jim can't say how she knows, but she does. When the sky grows dark and that vessel continues to hover without any indication of awareness, well, yup, she just knows.
They're not coming.
Jim doesn't say this out loud. She knows better than that. She knows the levy crushed hope can put on a child. And Nyota-she's so bright and sunny. So innocent. So full of good and pure and all the things that Jim has lost to the twisted maze of Tarsus. Jim wants to protect it-wants to protect her. She wants to bottle Nyota's innocence up and guard it with her life.
Nyota doesn't know about how bad the world can be, and at eight years old, she really shouldn't have to.
The same goes for Spock too. He's a bit standoffish and Jim didn't immediately take to him at first, but even he deserves some kind of preservation.
And at fourteen, that puts Jim as the oldest, the responsible one, and the leader. She's depending on her survival skills for this predicament. She's trying not to panic-trying not to feel trapped. She had just escaped Tarsus. It hadn't been a full two months before she was back in that dead-end town of Riverside and inside that dump of a house with her drunk of an uncle-and now-this.
Jim sighs as she tears her fingers into the white grass, ripping it up and creating a bald spot on the ground.
Nyota squirms to her left, but she's been quiet for the most part. Jim barely wants to believe that she's run out of things to talk about, but it's more that the silver fish of the river, which are swimming loops through the green water, have captured Nyota's attention.
They're like elongated trout with sparkling scales; moving through the river like writhing jumping beans and gleaming like fish-shaped disco balls.
It keeps Nyota occupied and silent, and Jim feels content to just observe the childlike curiosity cross her pretty face. But after a while, it doesn't last, because soon Nyota is fidgeting and scrunching her face with the tell tale signs of having a full bladder.
Jim stands and brushes off her butt before she glances over her shoulder.
Spock is still sitting at the base of the tree behind them with his legs folded like a pretzel and his eyes shut in concentration. He looks like he's sleeping, but what little Jim actually knows of Vulcans is that they are frequent meditators or something. This may be the case for Spock.
Jim squints her eyes with a thoughtful frown and studies the green bruise on his cheek, as well as the split lip. It's what makes her defenses lower, because she's reminded all too well of her own experiences with bullying. She looks down at Nyota, who is still twiddling, and says, "You've got to go, don't you?"
Nyota nods rapidly as she hops to her feet. She's only as tall as Jim's elbow. She says, "I was trying to hold it. But staring at this water just made me want to go even more."
Jim gestures for her to follow. "We can go over here for some privacy," she suggests.
Nyota hesitates as she glances over to Spock.
Jim notices. Of course she does. So she says, "We'll be back before he even sees we're gone. He'll be okay. Vulcans are very sensible."
Nyota presses her fingers to her lips in pensive silence before she nods energetically. She sticks close to Jim's side as they go into a deep brush of trees. They walk silently together for a short while, but in that time span Nyota manages to find a lovely little tune to hum.
Jim takes note of it because, well, she's the type to take note of people and the varying aspects of their character. It's how she keeps herself safe now. She's learned that it's important to examine an individual the way one would when assessing the weather-in this way she'll know how to prepare herself if there seems to be some type of impeding storm.
Kodos was the worst hurricane she's endured by far and that is a lesson she will never forget.
Jim shakes off the cold chill of those dark thoughts and focuses her attention on the buoyant youngster at her side. She says, "Nyota?"
"Hm?" Nyota turns those wide chocolate eyes up to her with eager blinks.
Jim smiles a little for Nyota's comfort, but it pains her to have to force it because she doesn't feel the effects of the smile on herself at all. She says, "You like to sing?"
Nyota nods really quickly and Jim's almost afraid her head may roll right off her shoulders. "I like to sing," she confirms before she turns her eyes elsewhere. "My grandma says that if one is afraid of something, one should sing, because music can soothe beasts and make the world a little less dark and scary."
Jim considers that, and then says, "You're scared?"
Nyota says nothing but she does twitch as she looks through the trees with anxious eyes and a nervous fidget.
Jim stops and Nyota bumps into her side with a surprise jolt. She turns so that she's facing Nyota and she grabs her shoulders gently. "Are you afraid?" she asks again, very carefully.
Nyota's chest is heaving slightly and Jim could almost kick herself for not noticing sooner because of course she's scared. She's been brave so far but she's only eight and that kind of courage can barely run so deep-especially when it comes to being in a place completely new and different from what she's used to.
Jim has to handle this with extreme caution. She considers what Riley used to do with her when she first made it to the camps on Tarsus. It's worth a try.
Nyota gives a visible swallow as she squirms and watches Jim with apprehensive expectancy.
Jim coils her fingers around Nyota's left wrist and guides her hand to her chest. She lays Nyota's palm flat against her chest before Jim drops down to her knees before her. "You feel that?" she says. "That's your heart. It's whirring away like a little hummingbird locked in a cage. You feel it knocking against your ribs?"
Nyota bobs her chin quickly as her fingers twitch over her chest and under Jim's hand.
"Why is that? Why's it beating so fast?"
"Because it's-" Nyota hesitates but Jim waits uncomplainingly. "Because I'm scared."
"Scared of what?"
"I don't know," Nyota whispers as she fidgets and looks around. "Everything."
"That's okay," Jim assures and smiles encouragingly. "It's okay to be scared of things. Sometimes that's what keeps us safe, but it can also be a distraction. So what we're going to do is concentrate on one thing at a time. Let's look at things one by one, starting with this nice little heartbeat of yours. What's it doing now?"
"Beating. But not as fast as before," Nyota says as her brow furrows in concentration. She squirms again.
"What else can you feel? Just look inside yourself-what's there?"
"Um." Nyota fidgets as she thinks. "I can feel my chest moving in and out. That's me breathing. And I can kinda feel my voice vibrating on my throat, down to my stomach."
"Good. Good. Now what about on the outside? What do you feel?"
"Um." Nyota takes a deep breath and looks around. "I can feel the wind. It's a bit-it's nice. Warm. A little wet." She looks up. "I think it might rain. But I can feel it on my skin. And the leaves from the bushes are brushing my legs."
"Nothing scary about that, huh?"
Nyota shakes her head with a tiny grin.
"Okay. What about what you can smell?"
"Um. It's like mints. And water."
"What can you hear?"
"Trees dancing with the wind. The wood is moaning and the leaves are, um, hissing. And I can hear buzzing. I think that's bugs. And, um, I hear birds too. They're, um, tweeting."
"How does your heart feel now?"
"Steady. Quiet."
Jim nods before she grabs Nyota's hand and monopolizes her attention. She says, "Listen, Nyota, I know this is all big but we can get through it. These uniforms say we were somebody before. We can be those somebodies again, we just have to wait for help. And in the mean time, we're all sticking together. So I promise that I will do my best to keep you safe and make sure we all make it out of this together. I always keep my promises. Do you believe me?"
Nyota nods hastily and widens her eyes as if she wouldn't doubt Jim's words for even a second. Then, to Jim's surprise, she throws her small arms around Jim's shoulders and squeezes.
Jim pats Nyota on the back before gently pulling away and standing to her feet. "Okay, well, let's find you an area to pee. We don't want any accidents."
"I wouldn't pee on myself!" Nyota protests, looking up at Jim with an appalled glare.
Jim finds it cute and the grin she gives is a little more genuine this time. "Of course you wouldn't. You're a little Lady."
Nyota sniffs and lifts her nose. "Of course I am," she agrees before stomping off to the bushes to the far right side. "And I can find a peeing spot myself."
"Oh, well then. You're just a brave little scout now, huh?" Jim says with mild amusement as she watches Nyota disappear from sight. "Scream if you need me."
"Okay!" Nyota calls back from somewhere.
Jim snorts before she crosses her arms and studies the surrounding trees. The wind coils through the white forest noisily, causing a stir among the leaves as the sky shifts into an even darker state. There's still enough light to see, but it's a low light, almost like candlelight.
Jim paces in a lazy circle as she waits for Nyota's return. She stops short when she spots a slight flickering from the corner of her eye and when she turns to locate the source she doesn't see anything. So she shrugs and continues her pacing. It happens again and she quickly looks to her left until she sees the small spark. She frowns curiously and approaches the hovering spark, and upon further inspection, she finds that this flickering spark is attached to the anatomy of a silver insect. It looks like a mix between a moth and a dragon fly, with a body made entirely of silver glass, and a tail that lights up in thirty second intervals like some kind of handheld sparkler.
Jim watches it dart from side to side in a wild dance with the wind, and soon, before she can even make sense of it, there are more of these insects. All of them arise from the bushes or fall off of the trees like a natural show of fireworks. Her eyes follow them all, enraptured and almost hypnotized, and they hover and dash to and fro before their numbers increase in an overspill all around Jim. She feels almost like she's in the midst of some kind of spiraling astronomic phenomena.
Jim lifts her hand and watches with a slight smile as a group of them flutter around her fingers, landing briefly on her upturned palm and wrist before darting off again. A few land in her hair and on her shoulders, flexing their translucent wings before springing to the wind again. There's a humming sound, a sort of low buzzing, and it's being emitted every time the otherworldly fireflies light up in an impressive display.
It's peaceful and awe-inspiring.
But the moment is broken when Jim is startled back into the situation by a bloodcurdling scream that sends her heart into a frantic fit. She presses a hand to her heaving chest and looks around. "Nyota?" she calls, pushing down her dread long enough to wait for a reply.
There's another scream.
The glittery fireflies even scurry in panic from the sound.
Jim gasps as they circle around her in a disorienting cyclone of luminescent alarm. She has to bat them away because they knock into her and smack against her body. She manages to find her way out of that web of confusion when they take up to the air above the trees before disappearing altogether.
Another scream echoes in the distance.
Jim sprints through the trees and bushes. "Nyota!" she yells as she slows to a stop to a small boot that no doubt belonged to Nyota. Jim feels her hand tremble as she crouches down and curl her fingers over the boot. "Nyota," she chokes, voice strangled with her panic and anger. She stands with it and looks around. "Nyota!" she screams as loud as she can-so loud that it echoes.
There's nothing but silence and wind.
"Shit," Jim hisses in frustration before she drops the boot and tangles her fingers in her hair as she paces furiously. "Shit, shit, shit," she murmurs as she pants. Her chest heaves and she feels lightheaded from her growing anxiety. She lets out a frustrated cry as she balls her right hand up and slams it into the trunk of a white tree over and over and over until her knuckles are red with blood and the wood is smeared with it.
Jim bites her bottom lip as the pain sails through her skin, into her bones, and up her arm. She sinks to her knees at the base of that tree painted with her blood and she presses her forehead against it. The world spins wildly around her as her throat seizes up with her sorrow and she has to get this under control because having a panic attack is not going to help her find Nyota.
Jim breathes shakily as she counts silently. By the time she reaches '73' she's ready to stand and refocus. She grabs Nyota's boot and heads back in search of Spock. When she reaches the river, Spock is still where they left him. As she draws closer, she notices his brow is furrowed deeply and there is a thin sheen of sweat covering his face as his body shudders. She snaps her fingers beside his right ear.
Spock jolts and springs to his feet, wrapping his hand around Jim's throat, lifting her off the ground with brute strength alone before he slams her into a tree. There is real terror in his dark eyes and a savage hint of violence.
Jim gasps sharply as she taps his arm rapidly. "It's me," she rasps. "Please-I can't-gonna-" She can feel something reaching into her mind, and it's pouring in like hot sand (so full of rage and confusion), seizing her thoughts as well as her lungs with such crushing force that it's unlike anything she has ever felt. Darkness is consuming the edges of her vision and she feels herself going under. She struggles with one last gulp of air and hisses, "Spock!"
Spock's brow furrows deeply as he stares at her with a spark of recognition before he blinks and quickly releases his hold with an unmistakable expression of shame and confusion.
Jim collapses on her side with a desperate swallow of air and a wheezing cough. She can feel the blood withdrawing from her face and circulating once more to the rest of her body. She presses a hand to her tender throat and winces as she feels a bruise forming.
"I-apologize," Spock says quietly. "That was-unforgivable. I did not mean to-"
"Why?" Jim rasps as she glares up at him. "Why did you go all crazy like that? I wasn't attacking you. Geez. Who did you think I was?"
Spock opens his mouth but he fails to formulate a response, so he closes his mouth and stares at her with a contrite frown.
Jim makes a disgusted sound as she climbs to her feet and stares at him defiantly, no matter that they are the same height, even though she is older by three years. She says, "You tell me why and I might reconsider breaking your nose."
"You would not be able to. It would only result in further injury to yourself," Spock quickly warns.
"Won't stop me from trying," Jim merely replies as she crosses her arms with a slight wince. Her already injured hand is burning with pain still. "Tick-tock. Answer my question. Why'd you freak?"
Spock gives a perceptible frown before he explains, "I was disorientated."
"No shit," Jim counters meanly. "And?"
"And I mistook you for a threat. But I see now that the fear spun in me was a result of unconscious imagination."
Jim blinks before she says, "So, essentially what your saying is that you had a nightmare?"
"Vulcans do not dream," Spock corrects but he looks uncertain and even more puzzled. "Yet, it may have been as you said. It would have been the first time for me. I hope you will pardon my reactions to this new development."
"I'll consider it," Jim mutters before she lowers her hands to her waist and clutches her hips. "What was it about?"
Spock moves to reply before a dawning look of concern strikes his placid expression. "I fear that I do not-recall," he confesses.
Jim lifts both her eyebrows before she sighs. "Yeah, that, um, I guess that can happen. I've had nightmares I didn't want to remember. It's a psychological thing-like a way for your brain to protect itself or something." She shrugs before she shakes her head. "Listen, that's the least of our problems. I think Nyota was taken."
Spock's expression folds into alarm before it winds into stony dispassion.
Jim can see right through it though. He's rightfully worried and scared. She's not sure how she can tell but she can. Something about human his dark eyes seem maybe.
"You are sure?" Spock questions.
Jim just crouches down and swipes Nyota's boot off the ground before presenting it to him. "Pretty sure," she says as she watches the way he observes it.
"What-" Spock hesitates before he straightens his shoulders and tucks his hands behind him. "What do you propose we do?"
Jim hasn't allowed herself to think about it, not until she had found Spock. But now that she's found him, she unleashes her mind and lets it tick away like well-oiled clockwork. She says, "The people on the ship aren't coming tonight. If they were coming, they would've came already. Something's not right up there. Maybe it's got something to do with them being unable to come down here or contacting us or whatever the case may be. So I think we got a twenty-four hour window to find Nyota before they find us. I'm not leaving this place without her."
"Where would we start?" Spock questions solemnly. "Jim, I do not mean to presume but-Nyota may just as well be dead already. Our lives could be in equal peril."
Jim laughs bitterly and shakes her head. "Very logical, Spock. But I don't care. I made Nyota a promise and I'll be damned if I break it. You can wait here for help if you want. But I'm going to find her. With or without you."
Spock says nothing.
"But I'd prefer with you," Jim adds after a long pause and shifts her gaze away as she fidgets under his watchful stare. "I'd worry less about you if you were where I can keep an eye on you."
"I am not a child."
"You kinda are. We both kinda are. Here. By ourselves. We're just children."
Spock doesn't look inclined to agree or disagree. His shoulders low a fraction. "Very well," he says. "I will offer my assistance and do as I am able, should you require such."
Jim nods gratefully. "I still owe you a punch. I'll save that for later," she says delicately before turning away and trekking into the white forest.
Spock is able to match her pace after a moment. He says, "What do you plan to do?"
"I'm thinking we should start at one of those pyramids. Maybe the one we all woke up at. There's bound to be some answers there, right?" Jim supposes.
Spock eyes her throughout the entirety of the walk. He says, "You are injured."
Jim frowns and reaches up to touch the bruise she knows must be forming beautifully against her throat but she realizes he's studying her right hand and not her neck. She flexes her fingers and her knuckles pinch with pain. "I punched a tree. I was upset," she explains.
Spock says nothing at first as he turns his gaze away. Eventually, whatever thoughts are swimming around in that logical mind spills out, "Your hand risks infection. You have splinters. This increases the chance by forty-eight point three percent. I am aware that humans have a tendency to exhibit signs of a fever in little to no time when a virus is introduced to the network of their anatomy."
"Duly-noted," Jim says, a little amused by his concern.
"Jim," Spock says and he sounds serious. "This could potentially hinder our endeavors."
"Yes, yes, I see what you're saying," Jim says, waving him off with a cheery smile that he merely frowns at. "Don't worry about it. Keep your focus on Nyota."
They eventually reach the crystallized pyramid of which they had first found themselves.
Jim climbs the steps quickly with Spock flanking her side and matching her pace. By the time they make it to the top, Jim is cursing under her breath because she realizes something. "It's completely pitch black. I wont be able to see a thing," she mutters with a sigh.
"Perhaps I might assist if I knew what you were searching for," Spock suggests, standing at the ready.
Jim thinks he looks like a little soldier. Well maybe not 'little' but a militant individual just the same. She says, "I just thought, with the way things are, we might find some clues in there. Maybe a hint of what happened here?"
Spock cocks his head slightly and the question is clear.
"Come on, Spock. I know you noticed how dead silent it's been. How there's nobody around? The huts in the top of the trees? No footprints or animal prints outside of our own?"
"It is peculiar."
"My thinking exactly," Jim says. "With no indication that anyone or anything lived here beside these pyramids, we've gotta hope that this turns out to be our best lead."
"I will see what I can find," Spock promises before he turns to the doorway.
"Be careful," Jim says, very quietly, but the slight pause in his step says he heard. She watches the shadows swallow him in and she waits anxiously for his return. She sighs and looks up at the sky and studies the star points in the darkened sky. They twinkle unfamiliarly to Jim and it strikes her as odd for a moment. She looks down at the tip of the pyramid before she lifts her face to the sky once more. She then walks along the platform to the side of it to peer out into the distance.
There are more pyramids, all of them positioned peculiarly and with definite intention.
Jim looks up again and studies the framework of the different star groupings. Her lips curl self-assuredly as it starts clicking into place and she begins to jog down the steps to the base of the pyramid. She studies the edges before she grabs a large branch, using the tip of it to trace compass symbols into the dirt on all sides of it. She throws the stick down and walks into the thick of the white forest to catch one of those glittery fireflies.
She snags one by clasping the wing of it between her thumb and pointer finger. It flaps wildly with struggle and she quickly carries it up to the mouth of the pyramid before it dies. She wants to use it's light to her advantage. When she makes it there, she passes through the doorway with every intention of finding Spock. She's slightly distracted by the symbols and the pictograms etched into the walls, but this only confirms her earlier suspicion.
Spock is standing before a white stone wall covered in pictures and symbols and hieroglyphics. "This stands out," he says when he hears her approach. He keeps his dark gaze pinned to the wall. "There is particular meaning to the positioning. I have accounted seven different symbols that repeat in varying patterns. I believe the reasoning for this is that the script starts from the top and descends down within a block and each story that follows flanks its side in correlation, and yet individually at the same time."
Jim lifts the glittery firefly but it flaps right out of her hand.
Though, strangely enough, it doesn't try to escape. It lands on a certain groove in the wall until it sinks into the stone and becomes one with the wall. Then it just enlightens the whole wall like some kind of glow in the dark puzzle.
"Well," Jim breathes in astonishment. "That certainly helps."
Spock says nothing. He continues to study the wall-his dark eyes moving rapidly to absorb every detail.
"So you said it's a story. Or stories," Jim remarks as her gaze hops from symbol to symbol. "What if it's a story of what happened?"
"That is likely," Spock agrees, concentration unbroken.
"You seem very invested. You know a lot about hieroglyphics?" Jim asks curiously.
"I am familiar with the correlating concepts. On Vulcan, we have ancestral shrines that are comprised with something of the same," Spock explains, attention easily divided. "It is about patterns. One must view it as a cloth. If the beginning thread can be found then the rest is easily unraveled."
"Hm," Jim hums. "I never thought of it that way." She looks back to the wall. "You have a good way of putting things. You'd do swell as a teacher, I think."
Spock doesn't acknowledge the compliment.
Jim isn't surprised. She says, "So listen, I noticed that the positioning of the pyramids are similar to the ones like we have on earth. Like the Mayan pyramids. I'm thinking there was some kind of celestial influence to the building of these structures. But then I noticed that the doorway was facing a certain way. Unfortunately I couldn't be sure the direction since there is no sun and moon. Then I remembered that it faces the river. So I thought, well what if the direction of the river was west and east. It would mean each pyramid is built to face north."
"I do not understand the significance."
"Right, so, depending on how each constellation shifts during a certain timeframe, it could be important to things like the climate or the weather or anything. What if we've landed right in the middle of some kind of peak?" Jim goes on to say, "Maybe there is some kind of underground network or shelters where the indigenous species of this planet goes during these peaks. Maybe because there's something out there that has free reign to come out and cause havoc or something. God, I wish we could understand these symbols."
Spock points to a carving of a small person. "I believe this means 'child'. I have noted that it appears the most with purposed frequency."
"Child," Jim echoes and snorts. "Which we are. So-this could mean that whatever happened to us has happened to them. But why?"
"That is what I am attempting to determine. If you will cease speaking for three minutes and twenty-two seconds, I will have an answer," Spock remarks, absently.
Jim grins a little as she glances at him.
The kid is funny, if not a little odd. He's a bit of a genius, that's for sure. That's kind of comforting to Jim because she's used to being the only one with such ticking intelligence. She takes the time to notice that his cuts and bruises from earlier has faded into nothing. She figures that Vulcans must have amazing healing capabilities.
If only I was so lucky, Jim thinks grimly as she brushes the fingers of her left hand over the achingly raw knuckles of her right and then over the tender flesh of her neck.
Spock stills and his expression turns somber. "I was mistaken," he says. "It is not merely a story, but both three parts a warning and an incantation."
"Incantation?" Jim repeats in confusion. "Like a spell?"
"More like a invocation," Spock clarifies before he takes a few steps back to take in the whole wall. He points to the far left top corner and indicates to the first vertical line of symbols. "This explains that at the origin of this planet, it was desolate and dead but substantial enough that numerous tribes could reproduce and spread. Unfortunately, their numbers superseded their means of maintaining life and soon it became a struggle for survival. The tribes were decimating by alarming numbers and the planet continued to scorn them. So in desperation, the remaining leaders convened in hopes to salvage what they could of their respective tribes." He points to the next line. "It goes on to describe that in the midst of this meeting, there came an elderly woman in thick cloaks and degenerate features. She claimed to have a solution to their problems. She described a deity with the supremacy of nature, but she also warned them that access to this power would come at a cost. The leaders were desperate to find resolution and so vowed to follow her instruction. She warned them once more that the cost would be great before she showed them the ritual to invoke this inordinate spirit. The leaders carried out the sacrament, each one to and for their own tribe, and the deity was successfully summoned. It is unclear from where the spirit came from but as promised, when they broached their petition, the spirit fulfilled their desires.
"A black mass formed and began to eat away at the dead of the planet so that things could be come anew. The tribes were warned never to approach or agitate the black mass, lest they be consumed as well. After the black mass had done it's work, the planet came alive with trees and animals and insects and vegetation," Spock continues as he points to the next vertical line. "They found that they had no want for anything for the next hundred years. During this timeframe, the tribes were able to expand to their original numbers and even supersede those estimates. However, during this period of fluctuation, the planet began to whither once more with the new introduction of life forms, which in turn, caused yet another shortage. By this time as well, new leaders had been set in place but they understood the ritual they had to perform in order to make another petition. Upon summoning, the deity returned but also informed them that there was still a debt owed to it. They vowed to give the spirit what was necessary, but only if it absolved their dispute. The deity consented and once again gave reign to the black mass to devour all the dead things in order for vitality to be restored unto the planet. And then the tribes were well pleased and comforted. The leaders sought to present the spirit with the finest materials as an offering of gratefulness. But when the spirit returned for its dues, it refused. Its tastes were crafted to darker pleasures."
Jim has a sudden feeling of dread. She thinks she knows where this is going.
Spock points to the next vertical line and continues, "The deity demanded stone structures be raised and used as a stage. It does not explain why they were plotted as they were but that they were to be used as a tomb for-" He stops suddenly.
"The children," Jim finishes with a knowing. "Sacrifices of children. Mass genocides right? So many that the number became contempt and they could no longer produce the number of children that the deity required. And when they couldn't reach their quota they used magic to settle the difference. Maybe they started with the elders, and then it boiled down and boiled down. But by the time they realized that they were in over their heads with this, it was too late because the only reason that fucking spirit helped them was because it was always planning on consuming them all along because that's what it does. That's what it does. It builds and builds until there is a buffet and when the time is just right, it works through its meal. Until there is nothing. Nothing at all. And wahlah. A complete wipeout of an entire civilization. Because that black mass that ate all the dead things was the deity all along. There was no difference. It just used a false face to get what it wanted. Tell me I'm wrong."
Spock doesn't. He says nothing at all and that is just as worse as a respond.
Jim presses back against the wall and slides down it as she buries her face in her hands. "This is why I hate religion. The things people are willing to do for power and-" Her voice wavers and a swell of anger builds up in her gut and throat as she thinks about Kodos. God, not this again. How could she let this happen again? "Three parts, right?" she mutters before she lifts her head and looks at him with red eyes. She doesn't care that she's trembling. "You said it was three parts a story and a warning. The fourth must be the incantation. I'm thinking that's our only chance."
"Jim, I do not believe-"
"I don't need you to believe," Jim snaps, her voice cracking like a whip against the air. "I need you to tell me what I have to do to summon it. Because the only way we're going to get Nyota back is if we corner the beast that took her. Now tell me what to do."
Spock says nothing, but everything he wants to say is in the way he holds his shoulders and the steadiness of his eyes.
"I'm not asking you again," Jim warns lowly.
Spock stares at her for a long while before he turns his dark eyes to the wall silently. After several beats of silence, he says, "We will need to build a small fire."
Part 2