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<![CDATA[Title: The Immunity Syndrome Goodbye
Author: Hymoor
Series: TOS
Codes: Pre S/Mc
Rating: (PG)
Archive: Really, you want to??
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Star Trek. Paramount-Viacom Inc.
owns it all. What a bummer.
Summary: The scene picks up at the end of "The Immunity Syndrome,"
just as Kirk is about to give the command to proceed to Starbase 6.
This is an AU in which the order of episodes is Amok Time, The
Immunity Syndrome, then Journey To Babel.
===========================================================
"Mr. Chekov, lay in a course for Starbase 6."
Uhura suddenly straightened at her board. "Captain, I'm picking up a
faint distress signal," reaching to make an adjustment, "It's a
ship's disaster beacon, Starship class," a pause, "The Intrepid, sir."
"Belay that order. Mr. Chekov, do a wide scan. Find the source of
that signal." Kirk sat slowly back in the command chair, turning to
face Uhura.
"It's the automatic emergency signal, sir," Uhura reported, frowning
slightly in concentration. "It's very faint, and intermittent."
"Survivors, maybe? What do you think, Bones?"
"Jim, I don't know. They had longer contact with the organism then we
did, and Spock was certain they were all dead..." slowly, shaking his
head, McCoy faintly smiled "Don't tell him I said this, but I'd tend
to trust what Spock says."
Nodding in agreement, Kirk tapped a control on his command
chair, "Spock, how are you doing?"
"I am completing the final shut down of the shuttle, and will be
disembarking momentarily, Sir." Spock replied promptly.
"Bones and I were about to come down to met you, but we've got a new
development up here. We're picking up an automatic distress signal
from the Intrepid. No visual yet, but it's something."
"On my way, sir."
Kirk turned to look at Chekov manning the science station. "Report,
Chekov."
"Got it Captain. It's The Intrepid, all right, or rather her remains.
The mass is less than half of what it should be." Straightening,
Chekov turned to face the Captain. "No life signs, sir."
"Damm. It was a hope."
"Sulu, set a course for her, impulse power."
"Aye, sir."
It was a quiet few minutes, time enough for everyone to catch their
breaths. Time to realize that they had survived yet again. Time for
McCoy to check with sickbay.
"Captain, we have visual now."
"Put it on screen, Sulu."
The starfield changed to show the remains of a Constitution Class
Starship. Or rather the partial remains. In the center of the
display, floated the heavily damaged primary hull, its saucer shape
no longer smooth and shinning. Large sections were torn open to
space, including the bridge. A blackened area partially obscured the
wide lettering that proclaimed that this vesicle was The USS
Intrepid, NCC-1708. The interconnecting dorsal section that connected
the primary and secondary hulls ended in a jagged opening at
approximately a third of its length. Of the secondary hull and the
nacelles there was no sign.
Kirk took a deep breath, meeting McCoy's eyes, "Yeah, we were lucky."
Suddenly, the lift doors swished open, and a somewhat battered Spock
stepped unto the bridge.
"Captain," he began, walking slowly forward, limping slightly, until
he stood next to Uhura, his eyes locked on the screen and the
Intrepid.
"Good to see you, Spock." Kirk stood and walked toward the railing
and Spock, who stood with his eyes fixated on the screen. "Scans are
showing no life signs."
Spock shot a glance at Chekov still manning the science station. "The
rest of the ship?"
Chekov straightened, facing Spock, "I'm sorry sir, but sensors are
showing no other remains."
Spock nodded, his shoulders sagging, looking suddenly exhausted. He
took a deep breath; still looking intently at The Intrepid, then said
something softly in Vulcan, making a gesture with his right hand.
McCoy, who was walking toward him heard only one word
clearly, "skan."
*Enough,* McCoy thought, *Time to get him off the bridge.* Aloud, he
said "Spock, come on, I need to check you out in sickbay and see what
damage you've done to yourself this time."
Spock nodded, taking his eyes from the Intrepid to look at Kirk.
Kirk motioned at the lift with his hands, "Go, Spock. We have it
handled here. You're off duty until Bones clears you."
"Yes, Sir." Turning, he slowly walked back toward the lift, McCoy
following closely.
Once the doors closed, Kirk turned to look back at the
screen, "Uhura, contact Starfleet Command. Send them our logs, and
inform them about the condition of the Intrepid."
Stepping up onto the walkway, he continued "Our leave is on hold for
a while folks. We'll stand Honor Guard until Starfleet Command sends
us a relief."
=========================================================
Almost two hours later, McCoy stepped back out onto the bridge.
Kirk was listening to Scotty. "Aye, Captain. We'll have most of the
damage repaired within the next 16 hours. Warp drive will be up long
before that, most likely within another hour, two at the most. We do
have some structural damage to the port nacelle that would be best
repaired at a dock facility, such as Starbase 6. If we could put in
there, the repairs could easily be done within a week."
"Sounds good Scotty. Don't forget to stop and get something to eat
and some rest."
"As soon as the warp drive is back on line, sir. Then I'll take a
break and give Lieutenant Finne a chance to gain some experience.
It'll be good for her." Scotty said smiling as he passed the Doctor
heading for the lift.
"Hello, Bones. How's Spock?" Kirk asked.
"Banged up. His right knee was twisted and damaged some. I've
repaired it, but he won't be running any marathons for a while. He
also had a lot a bruises, and three cracked ribs. All treated now."
McCoy frowned slightly, continuing "I've pulled him off duty for 48
hours, Jim. He needs it. He had a pretty rough ride and then there is
that," nodding toward the drifting Intrepid.
"Yes, there's that," Kirk said, frowning at the image of the dead
Starship. "You know, every time we were in port together, us and the
Intrepid, Spock would disappear over to her for a least a couple of
hours, usually more. At first, I was afraid that Captain T'Pell was
trying to recruit him."
"Yeah, I know. Maybe he just needed a touch of home once in a while.
A chance to get away from us emotional humans."
"It's a real shame that this happened now," Kirk said, nodding at the
screen. "We were suppose to be getting a transfer from them. An
Engineer. I just got the notice in the last batch of papers Command
sent us. Admiral Nogura was ecstatic, two Vulcans on a regular fleet
ship."
"Damm," McCoy breathed. Then looking around the bridge, he frowned
slightly, seeing the normal first shift crew still on duty. "Jim, how
much longer are you planning on keeping these people and yourself on
duty? You all could use a break."
Smiling, Kirk replied, "Only about another 15 minutes. Our relief
should be showing up any time now. DeSalle will be taking over the
con. Let me finish up this one report, and I'll let you drag me down
to the mess to get something to eat."
"Sounds good," McCoy replied, while moving off to check with the rest
of the bridge crew.
Over the next 10 minutes, McCoy stopped and spoke a few words with
each crewmember, until he ended with Uhura. "Nyota, how are you
doing?"
Looking up at him, Uhura straightened, stretching her shoulders, "I'm
doing okay, Len. Nothing wrong with me that something to eat, and a
hot shower won't fix." Reaching out, she made a couple adjustments to
her board, in preparation to shift change.
"Len, when Spock was up here, and saw the Intrepid, did you heard
what he said?"
"No, I couldn't hear it, he was speaking too softly. The only thing I
could make out was he was speaking in Vulcan."
"Yes, it was Vulcan," Uhura said slowly, meeting his eyes. "What he
said was a benedictionI THINK. He definitely used a word, 'skan,'
which means 'family'. And not just any family, but close family:
brothers, sister, husband, wife, that kind of family."
"Damm," McCoy sighed deeply, meeting Uhura's eyes. "Thanks for
telling me."
Suddenly, the relief crew was here, and McCoy moved to an out of the
way corner while reports were given. He only half-heard the low
conversations taking place, observing the interaction between the
oncoming and outgoing crew. The majority of eyes keep drifting to the
image of The Intrepid that floated sad and dead on the view screen.
As reports were completed, people left by ones and twos until only
Kirk was left finishing up with DeSalle. "Well, that's it,
Lieutenant. Fleet should be getting back to us any time now with
something beyond the acknowledgement of message received they've
already sent us. When they do, give me a call. The Con's yours."
"Yes, Sir."
Kirk turned and walked toward McCoy. Just as he reached him, the
comm. sounded, "Spock to Bridge."
Kirk turned and motioned for DeSalle to response.
"DeSalle here, Sir."
"Lieutenant, please rotate the ship sixteen degrees to port," Spock
requested.
"Aye, Sir," DeSalle replied. "Mr. Kyle, if you please."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Spock out."
Kirk and McCoy locked eyes for a moment, then Kirk turned to the
Ensign Chin manning communications, "Where was that call made from?"
After checking his board, Chin replied, "Captain, he was in the
forward observation lounge."
"Thank you, Ensign." Turning, he motioned to McCoy to the lift.
Once they were inside and on their way, Kirk said, "Think we should
go and find out what's going on?"
McCoy frowned slightly, and shook his head, "No...not yet at least.
Let's give him a little time to get his balance first."
"Okay." Kirk stood quietly for a moment, and then raised his hands to
rub his face and run his hands through his hair. "Long day, Bones."
"Yes, long day," McCoy responded, as the lift doors opened and they
walked into the corridor and the mess.
=================================================
It had been a quiet meal. Neither of them had been much inclined to
conversation. Just a few words here and there. Now after taking the
last bite of his meal, Kirk leaned back in his seat sipping his
coffee.
"Okay, Bones, what are we going to do about Spock?"
"We'll have to check and see if he's all right. He sounded awfully
tired back there." He took a slow sip of coffee, continuing, "When
Spock was up on the bridge and saw the Intrepid, and said whatever
that was and..." McCoy moved his right hand in an approximation of
the gesture Spock had made, then raised his head to met Kirk's gaze.
"Yes."
"Uhura was close enough to him to hear and understand what he said.
She thinks it was some sorta benediction. And that's not all, he used
a specific word that means close family."
Kirk sat back, closing his eyes and letting out a long slow
breath. "Oh, God."
"Yeah."
"What do you know about Vulcan death rituals?"
"Not much, there's a little in the medical databanks. But mostly
that's about how to treat bodies. If M'Benga was here, we could ask
him, but he's not. He's not due back till next month."
Kirk nodded, when the intercom paged, "Captain Kirk."
Kirk moved swiftly to the comm. unit on the wall, hitting the
acknowledge button with the side of his hand. "Kirk here."
"Captain," DeSalle said, "We have a priority call coming in from
Starfleet Command, Admiral Nogura wishes to speak to you."
"Right. It'll take me a few minutes to get to my quarters, and then
I'll take it there."
"Yes, sir."
Turning to McCoy, who had followed him from the table. "Bones..."
"Go Jim. I'll take care of this," gesturing toward the table. "And
then I'll go check with Spock."
"Thanks," Kirk said over his shoulder, heading for the door.
McCoy bussed their table, deliberately. Taking slow, deep breaths
throughout, gathering his courage to approach Spock. When he was
done, he closed his eyes and took one final slow deep breath in and
slowly let it out. Then turn and walked swiftly for the exit.
==========================================
McCoy reached the observation lounge to find that Spock had
the "Occupied: do not disturb" signal engaged. He paused, and then,
using his medical override, he entered.
Spock had the lights dimmed to a minimum level, leaving just enough
light for McCoy to make out the Vulcan sitting in one of the lounge
chairs that were placed in front of the observation port. On the low
table next to the chair he had a small container and a glass.
Spock's head turned at McCoy's entrance. "Doctor."
"Spock. S'ti ht'laktra," he pronounced carefully. The Vulcan's "I
grieve with thee."
His face expressionless, Spock stared at him for a long moment. Then,
visibly relaxing said, "Thank you, Leonard." And motioning to the
chair next to his, "Sit, if you would like."
Walking forward, McCoy came to the chair and slowly lowered himself
into it. His eyes were drawn to the wreckage centered in the view
port. "God, what a waste."
"Indeed."
"Jim was coming with me, but Admiral Nogura called and he had to deal
with him."
"Understood."
They were both quiet for a long moment, looking at the sad sight of
the Intrepid.
"Spock, on the bridge, what you said..."
"Words for the departed, the beginning of closure."
"You used a word, skan, which if I understand correctly means close
family."
There was a long pause in which McCoy began to suspect that Spock was
not going to respond. But, finally Spock turned toward him,
saying, "Yes, you understand correctly."
"Captain T'Pell was the sister of my Grandmother. And one of the few
of my relatives to whom did not judge my joining of Starfleet as a
total disgrace."
"Also, Sontell was onboard." Spock turned to face the Intrepid. "In
another 10 days, he would not have been. He was to transfer the
Enterprise. We were to pick him up on Starbase 6."
Spock had his eyes closed now and was breathing fast and shallow. He
continued in a low voice, "He was to be my bondmate."
"What?!?" McCoy turned to stare at Spock.
Spock continued, "Yes, you heard. We were to be bonded. Sontell and
I. Two males." His eyes tightly closed, Spock took a ragged breath.
"Spock, Spock, look at me! The fact that your intended bondmate was
male is NOT an issue. Remember me, Human, we have sex and form
relationships with just about anyone. I'm surprised is all, I didn't
expect you to find a new bondmate so soon."
The tension slowly left Spock. Softly, he said, "We were going to
tell everyone on Starbase 6. I wanted you to meet him first. After
the...disarray with T'Pring, I just wanted you to meet him first. I
think you would have liked him. He was a good man."
"I'm so sorry, Spock. I would have liked to have meet him."
"He was looking forward to coming to the Enterprise. Of meeting all
of you."
Spock leaned back into the softness of the chair, silently observing
The Intrepid. Slowly his breathing deepened, and became more regular.
After a while, McCoy got up and walked to the wall comm. to call Jim.
To tell him that Spock would be all right in time. That he would be
staying here awhile, until Spock was ready to leave, and go to his
quarters for a much needed rest.
Once he was done, he turned to look at Spock. Knowing that his friend
would be okay. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he would be okay
over time. Considering what he had learned. Considering new
possibilities.
The End]]> |
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