Life and Weather--Chapter 3
Life and Weather
Title: Life and Weather--Chapter 3
Author: Zeezeelive
Characters/Pairing: Spock/Uhura
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of the characters appearing in the Star Trek universe owned by Paramount Studios and the Roddenberry Estate. This fictional work is made for love, not made for profit.
A/N: I love Spock, Nyota and the entire Star Trek universe. The idea for this story came from a picture I saw that will be explained in a future A/N.
Summary: Spock and Nyota, while still at the Academy, receive an unusual assignment that forces them to rely on each other.
Chapter 3: Good Instincts
“ I want to make a stop to visit an old friend.” That’s how Captain Pike explained it to Spock and Uhura when he made a sudden change in their travel plans. Their shuttlecraft was now headed south instead of west to San Francisco. Within 30 minutes Captain Pike was reducing his speed to land the aircraft. From the window they could see that there was no state of the art landing pad awaiting them, only a small man-made clearing that was barely visible among the tall pine trees until they were almost down.
“Grab your gear,” said Pike as he turned in his seat and picked up only the smaller of his two bags. “All of it,” he added.
He cut the vehicle’s power without activating the steps, then stood and jumped down from the aircraft. He was immediately followed by Spock who dropped his bags on the ground before turning to assist Uhura. He offered her his left hand to steady her jump while reaching for her bags with his right.
Uhura pulled her bags back from his reach and silently shook her head, quickly looking to see if Pike had noticed Spock’s offer of help. “I got it,” she said to Spock who nodded stiffly and started walking towards Pike. She frowned realizing that she had probably offended Commander Spock. She usually appreciated his courteous attentions, but this was an opportunity to impress the future Captain of the Federation’s most prized ship. She wanted more than anything to project the image of a competent Starfleet officer who was worthy of serving on the Enterprise, not a weak little girl who needed men to help her do everything. Uhura jumped down from the shuttle making a hard, but stable landing. She rearranged her bags to adjust for the shift in the contents caused by her landing, then immediately looked up at the sky before turning around to survey the area.
Pike watched with concealed approval as he observed both young people do a quick 360- degree perusal of their surroundings. Well at least they had the basics. Direction, distance, terrain observation. Know where you are and how to get back. “This way,” Pike motioned with his hand for them to follow him as he started down a wide path leading out of the clearing.
Spock let Uhura fall in behind Pike and he followed her. Instinctively they had formed the best defensive posture to fight off forward or rear attacks. The captain realized that both Spock and Uhura knew that his mention of visiting an old friend was crap. In a few minutes, once they reached the destination, he could finally come clean. He had intentionally made them jump from the shuttle just to observe their physicality. Spock, he knew, was both brains and brawn. Cadet Uhura was still an unknown quantity, but he liked what he saw. Pike needed to believe that Spock and the cadet were prepared for the task at hand, but in his gut he wasn’t sure that they were. Spock had performed exceptionally well as a starship science officer. Smart, observant, analytical, loyal and brave in the line of fire. But he had a tendency to go by the book and there was no book on this one. And the cadet. Damn! She was a third-year cadet, not even an officer. He cursed himself for allowing someone so young to be involved in this, then cursed himself again for not appreciating the irony.
Silently they moved along the path. The only sounds came from their footsteps on the pine needles covering the trail and from the birds who nervously leapt from branch to branch observing the humans who had invaded their habitat. A small wood house loomed ahead. As they got closer to the house Pike became apprehensive about the way they were able to stealthily approach through the woods without being challenged. He was quickly disabused of the notion that they were unobserved when the front door suddenly flew open. A thin man about six-feet-tall stood in the doorway with arms outstretched. “Welcome.” He stepped backwards into the house motioning for them to enter.
When they all had entered and the door was securely closed, Pike looked at the elderly gentleman. He was as Pike remembered him, a little older and dressed quite differently, but basically, the same keen, intelligent face. His brown hair was streaked with many more strands of gray. His skin was a weathered brown reminiscent of Greek fisherman, but somehow ethereal against his immaculate white shirt. “Jesiah, is he here?” Pike nodded his head in greeting as he addressed the man.
“Certainly,” the man responded. “He has looked forward to meeting you. I will announce your presence.” Turning on his heels he disappeared behind the door to his right, then quickly returned. His face was different now, more pensive and spiritual. He stood at attention with his fingers and palms pressed together in front of his face and his thumbs pressing lightly underneath his chin. “ May I present his highness, Prince Aron, heir to the throne of Jaris.” Uhura’s mouth fell open at those words and Spock raised a quizzical and perhaps, skeptical eyebrow.
A young boy emerged from the room, dressed in the jeans and tee shirt favored by Terran youth. He was the height of a child around 9 or 10 Terran years. His hair was braided in short little locks that stopped just above his ears. His smooth skin had the soft pale brown coloring of a lion cub. Solemnly he extended his hand to Pike for a handshake. “Thank you Captain Pike for all you have done.” Turning to Spock he raised his right hand in the Vulcan greeting and with all the formality of the most noble of Vulcans said, “Live long and prosper, Spock of Vulcan.”
“Peace and long life,” answered Spock.
Walking over to Uhura who had not ventured far from the front door, he lowered his eyes to the floor, bent deeply from the waist and said in Swahili, “Habari.” Switching to Standard he continued, “I am pleased that you are here, Miss Uhura.”
Uhura responded in perfect Jarisian, “May the story of your ancestors be carried on the wind.”
Uhura could see Aron inhale sharply for a second before gathering his composure. “Thank you.”
Uhura wondered for a split second if she had been wrong to give him the traditional greeting accorded the children of Jarisian royalty, since he did not give the traditional response. She tabled that question to address a more important one. “Where have you been? Everyone on every planet from Betazed to Zantori has been searching for you for three years.”
“Fortunately, they have not found him,” Jesiah answered brusquely. “Many of those who are searching wish to do him harm.”
“I do not doubt that,” countered Spock. “However, I believe that there are many who only wish to ascertain whether the rightful heir has survived, and that he is safe.”
Jesiah’s voice took on a steely edge. “That may be true, but his mother, L’Amare Elena, was murdered in the palace, in her private quarters. This would not have been possible without great treachery and betrayal from within, so we do not know who we can trust.”
For the first time Aron joined in the conversation regarding his well-being. He smiled at Uhura, “We have decided that we can trust the three of you. That’s why you’re here.”
“I think I should take it from here,” Pike said bringing the conversation back under his control and giving Jesiah a pointed look. He did not want things to get contentious before he could even talk to his people.
“Of course. We will finish our studies for the day.” Jesiah motioned for Aron to join him and they left Pike to speak with Uhura and Spock. Uhura watched them as they left. Although Aron looked nine or ten, she had been following this story since his disappearance and she knew him to be around seven-years-old. The Jarisians were a tall race with an average height for men well over six feet. She wondered how tall the boy would eventually be.
Pike sat in a large wing chair and pointed to the sofa. “Sit.” Once Spock and Uhura were seated he pulled two envelopes out of his bag and handed one to each of them. “Pursuant to Starfleet Regulation 122, I hereby issue orders reassigning you to Federation Regulatory Services. These orders may only be countermanded by the head of FRS, by Admiral Barnett or by me. Do you understand?”
Uhura said nothing. FRS was a shadow organization that existed in rumor and legend more than reality. They were the spies who spied on the spies. Starfleet Intelligence at least had an office, official headquarters and a director. FRS just existed. As she sat quietly at one end of the sofa, Uhura looked down at her hands, not wanting to look at Spock who sat at the other end. She was a little frightened to be a part of anything that involved the FRS, but she did not want him to know that. She looked up when she heard him clear his throat before speaking.
“Captain, more information is required if we are expected to perform some service for the young prince.”
Pike was nodding his head. “I agree. You two need a lot more information, but here is what I can tell you for now. As you probably have figured out, the recruiting stop was real, but a distraction and misdirection to create our cover story. We’re in South Carolina now. To be exact, Berkeley County. It’s just a half hour flight and minimal fuel usage from point A to point B.”
“This is what’s going to happen next, Spock. Tomorrow at 0530 I am going to take Jesiah back to San Francisco to undergo cardiac evaluation for an artificial heart. While he is in the hospital you two will take his place as the primary caregivers and protectors of Prince Aron.” Pike spoke in a voice that Spock had heard before. This was the voice that Spock had heard when they had served together on the starship. Calm, firm, thoughtful. This was the voice that had sent young officers into life or death situations. Spock looked over at Cadet Uhura sitting with her hands folded in her lap. Her fingers were gripped together so tightly that the veins on the back of her hands protruded. The sight of her tension caused an uncomfortable constriction along the veins in Spock’s neck.
“Would it not be more prudent to allow Prince Aron to travel to San Francisco with Jesiah? The entire panoply of Starfleet security would be at their disposal.” Spock sat rigidly upright at his end of the sofa with his palms resting flat against his legs.
“Unfortunately, Jesiah’s misgivings about breaches in security have to be taken seriously. We don’t know who is aligned with the new government of Jaris. We don’t know who or what we are dealing with. There may be security problems within Starfleet. What we do know is that between the ages of 8 and 48 Jarisians have healing powers that make them difficult to kill. They can repair almost any kind of physical injury. This gives Aron’s enemies a clearly defined window of opportunity to strike. Next month the kid’s going to be seven. So we anticipate that within the next few months an attempt will be made on Aron’s life before he turns eight, before his ability to survive increases.”
“ I do not see the logic in killing a child,” said Spock. “How does this benefit anyone? It will be years before he is considered an adult”
“He doesn’t have to be an adult. He is the constitutional legal heir to the government. As long as Aron is alive the interim government has no real power. Other governments deal with them at their own risk. Interplanetary trade agreements, mining contracts, anything. The kid can cancel them all with his little signature.”
As Pike talked he noted that Spock still seemed to be deep in thought over the information that they had just shared. Vulcan logic clashed with the reality of Jarisian emotion.
“I know it makes no sense to you Spock, but our intelligence sources tell us that they are searching for him and I don’t think they are planning to throw him a birthday party. Greed and a lust for power can do strange things.”
Pike reached in his bag and took out the digis and handed them to Spock and Uhura. “You communicate with me using these digis only. Their signals are untraceable unless you activate it as a homing device. Keep them with you at all times.” Pike looked at Spock and Uhura. Spock’s face remained passive as always. Uhura, however, seemed lost in thought.
“We believe that whoever killed his mother is the person behind this. Jesiah was Elena’s prelate and he has protected the prince since his mother’s death. He doesn’t want to have this surgery because he doesn’t want to leave Aron’s side. Jarisian priests are the one group with the authority to disobey an order from the royal family. But no priest may refuse a request made on the monarch’s birthday. The little prince pulled rank on him and told Jesiah he might as well have the surgery now because he was going to make him do it when his birthday came around. Tough little kid, huh.”
“Indeed. That was quite clever for one so young,” Spock said.
“Aron is a really bright kid, as smart or smarter than a Vulcan in his age bracket. Jesiah says that he has his father’s ability to analyze strategy and his mother’s ability to analyze people. Combine that with his Jarisian empathic skills and you’ve got a problem. Listen, I’ve got two kids myself. It’s not going to be easy.”
Pike stood up and changed the subject. “We need to walk around the perimeter to see if we need to make any changes before I have to leave. When we come back inside, Cadet Uhura, you can take that exam you’re supposed to have tomorrow. I have a paper copy of it in my bag.”
Uhura almost gasped in disbelief. As soon as she heard that she would not be returning to the Academy she had immediately resigned herself to repeating the course. Professor Macklin was not a member of Starfleet, he was an old school academic who was quite proud of his history of terrorizing students in the planet’s best schools. Stern, pedantic and still brilliant in his advanced years, he was not known for accommodating student’s needs. He would break you before he would bend the rules. So how was she allowed to take his test early? She thought of FRS. Did they coerce him, bribe him, blackmail him? It did not really matter. She would not have to take another course from him, ever. Uhura actually felt comforted realizing that she and Spock had people watching their backs to make sure that everything would be okay.
As they walked outside for the inspection Uhura was struck by how beautiful the property was. A large oak tree stood at the left of the property. There were evergreen bushes planted in front of the house and in the backyard bare fruit trees stood in a mini grove waiting for warm weather to coax its fruit. Most of the land in the back was flat grass for the first 20 yards, then it gently sloped down for the next 10 until it met the water’s edge. A small motorboat sat next to a little rickety dock. Uhura imagined how beautiful the trees, the shrubs and the water must look in the spring. Pike, looking at the same scenery, wondered how they could make a water escape in that small boat.
When they returned to the house, Pike reached into his bag to pull out several maps and spread them on the table. Together they discussed the permutations of every escape routes from the house by foot, by land vehicle or by boat. “If you can’t get out you’ll have to make a stand here and use these.” Pike bent over and reached into the bag again, this time retrieving two phasers. “Set them on stun, but if you can definitely identify your opponent as Jarisian, set them on kill.”
South Carolina
Pike’s words echoed in her brain as she tried to concentrate on her exam. She was familiar with weapons. Even before her Starfleet weapons training she had used an animal tranquilizer gun when she’d worked with her uncle on an animal preserve. After that she’d used machetes and knives to hack through the jungle when she had traveled through Central and South American to study rain forest languages. But could she set a phaser on kill and use it? She had no answer.
Chapter 4: http://zeezeelive.livejournal.com/#post-zeezeelive-2015