Irrigating in the Desert (SG Atlantis/Star Trek A0s Movies fusion part 2
Title: Thursday's Child
Author: Karrenia_Rune
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: #18 white
A week later
To Weir’s way of thinking that she’d seen more than enough of the self-important, arrogant full-of-themselves starship captains to last a lifetime. After all, she was much more familiar with the type than she’d care to admit to anyone, even herself. Her grandfather had been a career officer and while she loved her grandfather and through him her father had gone on to a life in the diplomatic core, a life in the military was not for her. But experience had also taught her to identify the signs and be wary of them.
However, until now she had never encountered a specimen on the order of James T. Kirk. Oh, he was certainly young, and handsome and charming enough, but the way he was unconsciously flirting with her was nothing sort of what Elizabeth would classify as smarmy. Of course, as she greeted Kirk and his crew through the station, along with Sheppard in tow, she refused to let any of what she thought show on her face.
For his part, Sheppard had an entirely different attitude of the young captain, brash, arrogant, but he’d carried himself well and despite his years had managed to take the ship and its crew into several harrowing escapades and had still managed to come out more or less intact. It was a kind of reckless fly-by the seat of one’s proverbial slacks that appealed to the adventurous side of Commander John Sheppard.
Science officer and second-in command of the Enterprise, Spock spent a majority of the tour not studying the people so much as the station and what he saw evinced the characteristic half-slanted eyebrow that he’d begun to cultivate.
Uhura was paired with Teyla and Rodney McKay, flanked by Ronon Dex. She spent a great deal of the time asking questions tailored more along personnel and administrative lines than having anything to do with the station’s design; but phrased in such a way as to seem innocuous instead of probing.
Neither Teyla nor Ronon seemed to take offense at the probing nature of the questions, and bore both questioner and questions with stoic resolve on Ronon’s part and bubbly good humor on Teyla’s part.
Rodney was more concerned with trying to get through the tour without having to take an active part more because he’d wanted to soak in everything he could, to touch, see, and feel the thrumming life of the station in more ways than just through his five senses. If pressed for an answer to why he felt this so strongly he did not think he could have come up with a ready answer, and the fact that he felt the beginnings of a tension headache make itself known was not helping matters much either.
Sardonic and dryly humorous as ever Dr. Leonard Mc Coy begged off about mid-way through the tour and went off in search of the station’s infirmary, figuring he’d see what if any the project had made in the way of medical breakthroughs, and in any case, adding over his shoulder as he walked off, “I’m a doctor, damn it! Not a VIP!”
Kirk had the good grace to shrug his wide shoulders and sigh. “Dr. Weir, may I call you Elizabeth? Elizabeth, you’ll have to forgive Bones his curmudgeon attitude, he’s really quite cuddly once you get to know him.”
“Mr. Kirk, “Elizabeth replied, feigning not to notice that Kirk had begun to use her first name, adding, “I shall have to take your word for that.”
“Well,” shrugged Kirk with an attempt at a self-deprecating smile that did not completely succeed in being one hundred percent convincing, adding,” My word is pretty good, even if I do say so myself.”
“If you’ll all get into the turbo-lift, “Sheppard interrupted, trying his best not to allow an amused grin from showing on his own face at the by-play, “we’ll head up Operations and conclude our tour.”
When the tour was about to wind down and they’d reached Operations, he’d managed to shuffle to the back of the line and leant up against one wall, rubbing his temples with the backs of his hands, and was about to try make himself scarce when he reflexively flinched when he could feel the dark eyes of Mister Spock intently looking as if the other man could ferret out every thought going through his head.
Rodney shook his head and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, offering the other man a wry smile, and shrugged. Thinking as he did so, ‘Don’t know what you find so fascinating about me, Mr. Spock, but stare at me all you what, it’s no skin off my nose. And if you think it’s going to faze, think again.’
***
Interlude
Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott had begged off the main tour to go off to the reactors and science labs with Dr. Rodney McKay instead, making the convincing argument that he’d be better utilized among stuff he’d a yen for.
Montgomery Scott exclaimed, “Ah, laddie! You really ought to come with me and having the tour of the engines, I’d love getting my hands on those ample nacelles, if you’ll pardon the expression.”
“I saw some at Utopia Planita before Dr. Weir offered me a position in the science department here at the new Atlantis base.”
“Ah Atlantis!” Montgomery Scott enthused. “I’d heard that it was very hush-hush, if ye know what I mean?” Scott’s seemingly unbridled enthusiasm seemed like it came second nature to him.
As they toured the startling and stark design of the Atlantis base together it suddenly occurred to Rodney McKay that the other man’s enthusiasm had been held in check for too long and was only now demanding to be let loose and spill out to its heart’s content.
Rodney didn’t blame the other man, hell, it was almost as if he’d found a, well, maybe not a friend, at least some he could talk to.
It was too soon to begin cultivating friendships, but at least someone he had something in common with, for starters, a love of engineering, physics and spaceships.
For his part, Montgomery Scott who had spent more time than he cared to admit marooned on a run-down, on the edge of absolutely nowhere fringe of Federation space for his unorthodox warp-drive theories, was happy to be back among civilization again, happy to be on space-ship doing what he loved to do, with the added bonus that he now had someone else who seemed to love engineering and physics just as much as he did.
Rodney shook his head. “No, I don’t actually. Would you care to elaborate?”
“I heard it from Captain Kirk and had it seconded by Mr. Spock. It’s like this, if you know what I mean? It’s nae that I don’t think Kirk is giving it to me straight all the time. He does have a tendency towards hyperbole,” Scott advised.
Rodney allowed himself a tight grin, “I’ve noticed. I think Sheppard does too, but he’s less obvious about it.”
Scott grinned and continued, his Scottish burr even more pronounced than ever. “Sheppard? Oh, wait, that’s the military CEO of the Pegasus Mission, right?
I’m rather surprised that Starfleet brass signed off on a mission that combines both military and civilian together. It’s a bold move, and I applaud them for it.”
“You don’t believe it will work?” asked Rodney.
“I honestly don’t know, although I do know it’s never been tried before,” Scott replied. “And I say that despite all that, knowing that are risks involved in any venture of this scope; I say I kinda envy you and your team, Mr. McKay.”
“You do?”
“Yes, but an assignment to the Enterprise is nothing to sneeze at either, ye know?” Scott grinned and gave his new friend a comradely smack on the shoulders. “We should go back up my quarters and have a celebratory nip of some whiskey that I’ve been saving for a special occasion. What do you say?”
“Yes, why not?” Rodney shrugged.
**
Interlude, having a discussion about his mixed heritage with Spock
“May I speak with you?” the voice was cultured, urbane and unassuming, yet at the same time it seemed to Rodney that it contained undertones of other atttrutibtes that he had no exact criteria upon which to make a determination for.
All of that made him feel that the speaker deserved, no, expected an equally courteous response, so he dropped the Padd that he’d been working on and turned around. “I guess I could spare a moment, I mean, of course you may.”
“You are Rodney McKay, the newly appointed science officer on Space Station Atlantis, are you not?”
“I have that privilege, Sir. Rodney paused, not sure to whom he was speaking to, while he could readily recognize the blue uniform of and the rank pips on the shoulders of the Starfleet which meant both someone in the sciences and in the immediate command track aboard the Enterprise.
Rodney had not had the opportunity to meet everyone, except for the engineer Montgomery Scott and the ship’s doctor who had administered his required medical exam.
The other man had almost olive-colored skin and black eyes set in a narrow high-boned face and black hair that was so black that it seemed to absorb the light from the over-head lights in the access-way.
“You seem to have the advantage of me, Sir.”
“I am Commander Spock, second-in-command of the Enterprise. And do not be alarmed, I merely wish to speak to you regarding, shall we say, rather delicate matter that we seem to share in common.”
“I, what do you mean by that?” Rodney demanded defensively, unable to stop from flinching as if from a blow.
“Please do not be alarmed, I mean you no harm,” replied Spock evenly and quietly, “I seek not to cause you any trouble, but I took the liberty of looking into your service record, and it’s come to my attention that the very
matter that we share in common is the thing you’ve spent years being kept in the dark about. True? Or am I mistaken?”
“You’re Vulcan,” Rodney managed to stammer, finally recognizing Commander Spock’s species.
He’d heard very little about the tragic events that had caused the destruction of an entire world at the hands of the time and space hopping megalomaniac Romulan captain, Nero, and wondered if that was what Spock wanted to speak with him about it. If so, he’d be better off speaking with Counselor Teyla.
Even as the thought crossed his mind the realization if that tragedy was the reason that his father, had been so distant, so guarded whenever Rodney as both a young man and later on as a teenager had begun to ask questions about the mother he had never really known. Perhaps his Vulcan mother had been among the millions or even billions of native Vulcans who had perished when Vulcan had been destroyed.
It had been a while since his half-Vulcan heritage had come up and at the moment he felt rather ambivalent about it even now. “Enough of this,” exclaimed Rodney, “Why can’t you just tell me flat out what you want to know?”
Spock sighed. “This is difficult, I am cognizant of that fact, but after a great deal of consideration I felt it was best to approach you and discuss it with you first.”
“Discuss what?”
“Your mixed heritage,” Spock replied. “I have known my entire life that my father chose to marry a human woman and for years I felt that it was a weakness or a rare lapse in logic on his part.”
“I guess from a Vulcan perspective I can understand why you felt that way. And now how do you feel about it. I mean, I get the distinct impression that things have changed.”
“Quite perceptive, but I till you this in order for you to begin the first steps in learning to you accept your own dual heritage,” Spock said.
“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know. I was just thinking about my mother, about how I really got to know her. My Dad kept the fact that she was Vulcan from me for years.”
“That was unfortunate, but it’s not too late to begin to explore it,” Spock encouraged.
McKay shrugged and then began to shuffle his feet, before the words came out in a torrent, and before he could think better about whether or not he might want to reconsider them. “I honestly don’t know if I want to. I thought that when I found out the truth that I would have to hide it.
“Why would you wish to hide one half of your true nature?” Spock asked genuinely intrigued.
“How the hell should I know? Rodney exclaimed, rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands, adding quietly, “Or worse, because I’d get in trouble with Starfleet brass.”
“You do not have to make any hasty decisions, take your time, and we can speak some more until the Enterprise departs Atlantis, but if you have any further questions at a later date I would like to be able to assist in any way that I can,” Spock replied.
“Oh, yes, of course. I mean that would be fine,” murmured Rodney.
***
Communications officer Uhura rushed down the corridors and towards the bank of turbo-lifts and managed to squeeze her lanky frame through the rapidly closing doors in the instant before they closed and sidled up to Spock, saying breathlessly, “So how did it go?”
“Which subject are you referring to?” Spock replied.
“You know which one, so don’t play coy with me,” she said.
“If you are referring to the conversation that I had with Atlantis’s new science officer, one it went as well as can be expected, and two, it is a confidential matter, and one that I do not wish to have spread all over the ship.
Uhura recoiled as she’d been scolded although Spock had not meant his words to sound harsh, just reproving.
“It is difficult matter, Uhura, please understand and honor my wish for forbearance in this matter,” Spock said.
Uhura pulled back a dangling tendril of jet black hair from her face and quickly regained her considerable composure, saying “Of course, I understand, really, I do, Spock. I was merely curious, but if I may ask one question?”
“You may,” replied Spock,
“On which side is Vulcan blood?” she asked.
“The matriarchal side,” Spock replied.
Uhura nodded and considered: “So, it’s the opposite of yours. How long has he known?”
“That’s two questions,” Spock replied said wryly even as one soot-black eyebrow arced ever so subtly up at a determined slant, “ but very well, only within the past fortnight.”
“I should think there would be any number of advantages,” she stated. “But it’s different for you, isn’t it, Spock?”
“How so?” he asked.
Uhura did not reply right away, biting her full lower lip and twisting one tapered dusky small tapered finger around a trailing strand of her black hair, before saying: “Spock, you’ve dealt with the pros and cons of being half-human your entire life.”
“And the thought behind this is?” asked Spock curiously.
“It’s that you’ve never had it sprung on you suddenly like he has. Is there anything you can do to help?”
Spock sighed, then asked calmly, “May I ask why you’ve taken an interest in Dr. McKay?”
She sighed and then paused as their turbo-lift reached their destination and then got out and onto the bridge, before she adjusted the fall of her black hair to make room for the stylized silver ear-piece she wore whenever she was on duty on the bridge’s communication’s station.
She didn’t need it at the moment but it served as an excellent outlet for something to do with her hands; then added: “Because I do. He needs someone who understands, not the logical part, but, oh, hell if I can explain it any better than that right now, if you know what I mean?”
Spock nodded, “I believe I do.”
Uhura leant forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t be a stranger. For the record, I may have come on too strong earlier. Granted I don’t know him very well, and we’ve barely met, but I still think he’ll need before this mission is all over.”
Spock did not react to the kiss mainly because he wasn’t sure if she expected him too, or if it was another phase of their developing relationship. From her expression and body language he was inclined to interpret the kiss as the kind a sibling might offer to another sibling as an expression of goodwill or something to that effect. So he simply asked, “How do you figure that?”
“I just have this feeling,” replied Uhura
Spock sagely nodded, “Indeed. “
**
Meanwhile in the infirmary Leonard “Bones” McCoy and Doctor Carson Beckett were bonding; well more like commiserating over their respective commanders/superiors penchant for reckless behavior and launching into sometimes ill-conceived endeavors that put the rest of the crew in danger. “Let me tell you about it,” McCoy drawled.
“Allow me to let you in on a little secret, well not so much secret nowadays, because I’m sure you can appreciate how something like this can quickly travel throughout the ship. “ McCoy paused and sighed. “But the fact is Kirk wasn’t even supposed to be on the Enterprise when it went up against Nero and his invasion force. “
“No,” exclaimed Carson Beckket. “I recall reading the pre-mission reports back in me day at Starfleet Academy, but I think I must have missed something along the way.”
“Not about the mission, not so much. It was only that we needed to fly under the radar of that pointy-eared first officer Spock, I had to employ my discretion as chief medical officer on the Enterprise and give Kirk all the apparent symptoms of Tholian flu.”
“McCoy! That’s just plain dastardly,” laughed Carson Beckket.
“I have to admit it is, just a little, but the point is our good Captain had a bit of an unexpected allergic reaction to the injection,” replied McCoy when he regained his own composure.
“What happened?” Carson asked.
McCoy smirked and said: “His hands swelled up until they looked like a pair of giant oven mitts.”
Carson leaned back in his metal chair and clasped his hands behind his head. “Oh, my! I shouldn’t say this, especially as someone in the practice of medicine, but I would have loved to see the expression on his face.”
“All kidding aside, I mean, why Atlantis, Carson?” asked McCoy.
“I could tell that it was an opportunity of a life-time, or that it appeals to my sense of adventure, but those would be platitudes, no,” Carson paused and his brow furrowed as he sorted through his own reasons to accept the posting to the Atlantis base. “It’s not just because I wanted the chance to work in frontier medicine, or because it’s mission is something that’s never been done before; I should a little of both, if that doesnae sound completely insane.”
“No, not insane at all, my friend, not all,” Leonard McCoy said earnestly. “Not at all.”
Continued in chapter 3 "Your Young People shall See Visions"
Author: Karrenia_Rune
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: #18 white
A week later
To Weir’s way of thinking that she’d seen more than enough of the self-important, arrogant full-of-themselves starship captains to last a lifetime. After all, she was much more familiar with the type than she’d care to admit to anyone, even herself. Her grandfather had been a career officer and while she loved her grandfather and through him her father had gone on to a life in the diplomatic core, a life in the military was not for her. But experience had also taught her to identify the signs and be wary of them.
However, until now she had never encountered a specimen on the order of James T. Kirk. Oh, he was certainly young, and handsome and charming enough, but the way he was unconsciously flirting with her was nothing sort of what Elizabeth would classify as smarmy. Of course, as she greeted Kirk and his crew through the station, along with Sheppard in tow, she refused to let any of what she thought show on her face.
For his part, Sheppard had an entirely different attitude of the young captain, brash, arrogant, but he’d carried himself well and despite his years had managed to take the ship and its crew into several harrowing escapades and had still managed to come out more or less intact. It was a kind of reckless fly-by the seat of one’s proverbial slacks that appealed to the adventurous side of Commander John Sheppard.
Science officer and second-in command of the Enterprise, Spock spent a majority of the tour not studying the people so much as the station and what he saw evinced the characteristic half-slanted eyebrow that he’d begun to cultivate.
Uhura was paired with Teyla and Rodney McKay, flanked by Ronon Dex. She spent a great deal of the time asking questions tailored more along personnel and administrative lines than having anything to do with the station’s design; but phrased in such a way as to seem innocuous instead of probing.
Neither Teyla nor Ronon seemed to take offense at the probing nature of the questions, and bore both questioner and questions with stoic resolve on Ronon’s part and bubbly good humor on Teyla’s part.
Rodney was more concerned with trying to get through the tour without having to take an active part more because he’d wanted to soak in everything he could, to touch, see, and feel the thrumming life of the station in more ways than just through his five senses. If pressed for an answer to why he felt this so strongly he did not think he could have come up with a ready answer, and the fact that he felt the beginnings of a tension headache make itself known was not helping matters much either.
Sardonic and dryly humorous as ever Dr. Leonard Mc Coy begged off about mid-way through the tour and went off in search of the station’s infirmary, figuring he’d see what if any the project had made in the way of medical breakthroughs, and in any case, adding over his shoulder as he walked off, “I’m a doctor, damn it! Not a VIP!”
Kirk had the good grace to shrug his wide shoulders and sigh. “Dr. Weir, may I call you Elizabeth? Elizabeth, you’ll have to forgive Bones his curmudgeon attitude, he’s really quite cuddly once you get to know him.”
“Mr. Kirk, “Elizabeth replied, feigning not to notice that Kirk had begun to use her first name, adding, “I shall have to take your word for that.”
“Well,” shrugged Kirk with an attempt at a self-deprecating smile that did not completely succeed in being one hundred percent convincing, adding,” My word is pretty good, even if I do say so myself.”
“If you’ll all get into the turbo-lift, “Sheppard interrupted, trying his best not to allow an amused grin from showing on his own face at the by-play, “we’ll head up Operations and conclude our tour.”
When the tour was about to wind down and they’d reached Operations, he’d managed to shuffle to the back of the line and leant up against one wall, rubbing his temples with the backs of his hands, and was about to try make himself scarce when he reflexively flinched when he could feel the dark eyes of Mister Spock intently looking as if the other man could ferret out every thought going through his head.
Rodney shook his head and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, offering the other man a wry smile, and shrugged. Thinking as he did so, ‘Don’t know what you find so fascinating about me, Mr. Spock, but stare at me all you what, it’s no skin off my nose. And if you think it’s going to faze, think again.’
***
Interlude
Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott had begged off the main tour to go off to the reactors and science labs with Dr. Rodney McKay instead, making the convincing argument that he’d be better utilized among stuff he’d a yen for.
Montgomery Scott exclaimed, “Ah, laddie! You really ought to come with me and having the tour of the engines, I’d love getting my hands on those ample nacelles, if you’ll pardon the expression.”
“I saw some at Utopia Planita before Dr. Weir offered me a position in the science department here at the new Atlantis base.”
“Ah Atlantis!” Montgomery Scott enthused. “I’d heard that it was very hush-hush, if ye know what I mean?” Scott’s seemingly unbridled enthusiasm seemed like it came second nature to him.
As they toured the startling and stark design of the Atlantis base together it suddenly occurred to Rodney McKay that the other man’s enthusiasm had been held in check for too long and was only now demanding to be let loose and spill out to its heart’s content.
Rodney didn’t blame the other man, hell, it was almost as if he’d found a, well, maybe not a friend, at least some he could talk to.
It was too soon to begin cultivating friendships, but at least someone he had something in common with, for starters, a love of engineering, physics and spaceships.
For his part, Montgomery Scott who had spent more time than he cared to admit marooned on a run-down, on the edge of absolutely nowhere fringe of Federation space for his unorthodox warp-drive theories, was happy to be back among civilization again, happy to be on space-ship doing what he loved to do, with the added bonus that he now had someone else who seemed to love engineering and physics just as much as he did.
Rodney shook his head. “No, I don’t actually. Would you care to elaborate?”
“I heard it from Captain Kirk and had it seconded by Mr. Spock. It’s like this, if you know what I mean? It’s nae that I don’t think Kirk is giving it to me straight all the time. He does have a tendency towards hyperbole,” Scott advised.
Rodney allowed himself a tight grin, “I’ve noticed. I think Sheppard does too, but he’s less obvious about it.”
Scott grinned and continued, his Scottish burr even more pronounced than ever. “Sheppard? Oh, wait, that’s the military CEO of the Pegasus Mission, right?
I’m rather surprised that Starfleet brass signed off on a mission that combines both military and civilian together. It’s a bold move, and I applaud them for it.”
“You don’t believe it will work?” asked Rodney.
“I honestly don’t know, although I do know it’s never been tried before,” Scott replied. “And I say that despite all that, knowing that are risks involved in any venture of this scope; I say I kinda envy you and your team, Mr. McKay.”
“You do?”
“Yes, but an assignment to the Enterprise is nothing to sneeze at either, ye know?” Scott grinned and gave his new friend a comradely smack on the shoulders. “We should go back up my quarters and have a celebratory nip of some whiskey that I’ve been saving for a special occasion. What do you say?”
“Yes, why not?” Rodney shrugged.
**
Interlude, having a discussion about his mixed heritage with Spock
“May I speak with you?” the voice was cultured, urbane and unassuming, yet at the same time it seemed to Rodney that it contained undertones of other atttrutibtes that he had no exact criteria upon which to make a determination for.
All of that made him feel that the speaker deserved, no, expected an equally courteous response, so he dropped the Padd that he’d been working on and turned around. “I guess I could spare a moment, I mean, of course you may.”
“You are Rodney McKay, the newly appointed science officer on Space Station Atlantis, are you not?”
“I have that privilege, Sir. Rodney paused, not sure to whom he was speaking to, while he could readily recognize the blue uniform of and the rank pips on the shoulders of the Starfleet which meant both someone in the sciences and in the immediate command track aboard the Enterprise.
Rodney had not had the opportunity to meet everyone, except for the engineer Montgomery Scott and the ship’s doctor who had administered his required medical exam.
The other man had almost olive-colored skin and black eyes set in a narrow high-boned face and black hair that was so black that it seemed to absorb the light from the over-head lights in the access-way.
“You seem to have the advantage of me, Sir.”
“I am Commander Spock, second-in-command of the Enterprise. And do not be alarmed, I merely wish to speak to you regarding, shall we say, rather delicate matter that we seem to share in common.”
“I, what do you mean by that?” Rodney demanded defensively, unable to stop from flinching as if from a blow.
“Please do not be alarmed, I mean you no harm,” replied Spock evenly and quietly, “I seek not to cause you any trouble, but I took the liberty of looking into your service record, and it’s come to my attention that the very
matter that we share in common is the thing you’ve spent years being kept in the dark about. True? Or am I mistaken?”
“You’re Vulcan,” Rodney managed to stammer, finally recognizing Commander Spock’s species.
He’d heard very little about the tragic events that had caused the destruction of an entire world at the hands of the time and space hopping megalomaniac Romulan captain, Nero, and wondered if that was what Spock wanted to speak with him about it. If so, he’d be better off speaking with Counselor Teyla.
Even as the thought crossed his mind the realization if that tragedy was the reason that his father, had been so distant, so guarded whenever Rodney as both a young man and later on as a teenager had begun to ask questions about the mother he had never really known. Perhaps his Vulcan mother had been among the millions or even billions of native Vulcans who had perished when Vulcan had been destroyed.
It had been a while since his half-Vulcan heritage had come up and at the moment he felt rather ambivalent about it even now. “Enough of this,” exclaimed Rodney, “Why can’t you just tell me flat out what you want to know?”
Spock sighed. “This is difficult, I am cognizant of that fact, but after a great deal of consideration I felt it was best to approach you and discuss it with you first.”
“Discuss what?”
“Your mixed heritage,” Spock replied. “I have known my entire life that my father chose to marry a human woman and for years I felt that it was a weakness or a rare lapse in logic on his part.”
“I guess from a Vulcan perspective I can understand why you felt that way. And now how do you feel about it. I mean, I get the distinct impression that things have changed.”
“Quite perceptive, but I till you this in order for you to begin the first steps in learning to you accept your own dual heritage,” Spock said.
“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know. I was just thinking about my mother, about how I really got to know her. My Dad kept the fact that she was Vulcan from me for years.”
“That was unfortunate, but it’s not too late to begin to explore it,” Spock encouraged.
McKay shrugged and then began to shuffle his feet, before the words came out in a torrent, and before he could think better about whether or not he might want to reconsider them. “I honestly don’t know if I want to. I thought that when I found out the truth that I would have to hide it.
“Why would you wish to hide one half of your true nature?” Spock asked genuinely intrigued.
“How the hell should I know? Rodney exclaimed, rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands, adding quietly, “Or worse, because I’d get in trouble with Starfleet brass.”
“You do not have to make any hasty decisions, take your time, and we can speak some more until the Enterprise departs Atlantis, but if you have any further questions at a later date I would like to be able to assist in any way that I can,” Spock replied.
“Oh, yes, of course. I mean that would be fine,” murmured Rodney.
***
Communications officer Uhura rushed down the corridors and towards the bank of turbo-lifts and managed to squeeze her lanky frame through the rapidly closing doors in the instant before they closed and sidled up to Spock, saying breathlessly, “So how did it go?”
“Which subject are you referring to?” Spock replied.
“You know which one, so don’t play coy with me,” she said.
“If you are referring to the conversation that I had with Atlantis’s new science officer, one it went as well as can be expected, and two, it is a confidential matter, and one that I do not wish to have spread all over the ship.
Uhura recoiled as she’d been scolded although Spock had not meant his words to sound harsh, just reproving.
“It is difficult matter, Uhura, please understand and honor my wish for forbearance in this matter,” Spock said.
Uhura pulled back a dangling tendril of jet black hair from her face and quickly regained her considerable composure, saying “Of course, I understand, really, I do, Spock. I was merely curious, but if I may ask one question?”
“You may,” replied Spock,
“On which side is Vulcan blood?” she asked.
“The matriarchal side,” Spock replied.
Uhura nodded and considered: “So, it’s the opposite of yours. How long has he known?”
“That’s two questions,” Spock replied said wryly even as one soot-black eyebrow arced ever so subtly up at a determined slant, “ but very well, only within the past fortnight.”
“I should think there would be any number of advantages,” she stated. “But it’s different for you, isn’t it, Spock?”
“How so?” he asked.
Uhura did not reply right away, biting her full lower lip and twisting one tapered dusky small tapered finger around a trailing strand of her black hair, before saying: “Spock, you’ve dealt with the pros and cons of being half-human your entire life.”
“And the thought behind this is?” asked Spock curiously.
“It’s that you’ve never had it sprung on you suddenly like he has. Is there anything you can do to help?”
Spock sighed, then asked calmly, “May I ask why you’ve taken an interest in Dr. McKay?”
She sighed and then paused as their turbo-lift reached their destination and then got out and onto the bridge, before she adjusted the fall of her black hair to make room for the stylized silver ear-piece she wore whenever she was on duty on the bridge’s communication’s station.
She didn’t need it at the moment but it served as an excellent outlet for something to do with her hands; then added: “Because I do. He needs someone who understands, not the logical part, but, oh, hell if I can explain it any better than that right now, if you know what I mean?”
Spock nodded, “I believe I do.”
Uhura leant forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t be a stranger. For the record, I may have come on too strong earlier. Granted I don’t know him very well, and we’ve barely met, but I still think he’ll need before this mission is all over.”
Spock did not react to the kiss mainly because he wasn’t sure if she expected him too, or if it was another phase of their developing relationship. From her expression and body language he was inclined to interpret the kiss as the kind a sibling might offer to another sibling as an expression of goodwill or something to that effect. So he simply asked, “How do you figure that?”
“I just have this feeling,” replied Uhura
Spock sagely nodded, “Indeed. “
**
Meanwhile in the infirmary Leonard “Bones” McCoy and Doctor Carson Beckett were bonding; well more like commiserating over their respective commanders/superiors penchant for reckless behavior and launching into sometimes ill-conceived endeavors that put the rest of the crew in danger. “Let me tell you about it,” McCoy drawled.
“Allow me to let you in on a little secret, well not so much secret nowadays, because I’m sure you can appreciate how something like this can quickly travel throughout the ship. “ McCoy paused and sighed. “But the fact is Kirk wasn’t even supposed to be on the Enterprise when it went up against Nero and his invasion force. “
“No,” exclaimed Carson Beckket. “I recall reading the pre-mission reports back in me day at Starfleet Academy, but I think I must have missed something along the way.”
“Not about the mission, not so much. It was only that we needed to fly under the radar of that pointy-eared first officer Spock, I had to employ my discretion as chief medical officer on the Enterprise and give Kirk all the apparent symptoms of Tholian flu.”
“McCoy! That’s just plain dastardly,” laughed Carson Beckket.
“I have to admit it is, just a little, but the point is our good Captain had a bit of an unexpected allergic reaction to the injection,” replied McCoy when he regained his own composure.
“What happened?” Carson asked.
McCoy smirked and said: “His hands swelled up until they looked like a pair of giant oven mitts.”
Carson leaned back in his metal chair and clasped his hands behind his head. “Oh, my! I shouldn’t say this, especially as someone in the practice of medicine, but I would have loved to see the expression on his face.”
“All kidding aside, I mean, why Atlantis, Carson?” asked McCoy.
“I could tell that it was an opportunity of a life-time, or that it appeals to my sense of adventure, but those would be platitudes, no,” Carson paused and his brow furrowed as he sorted through his own reasons to accept the posting to the Atlantis base. “It’s not just because I wanted the chance to work in frontier medicine, or because it’s mission is something that’s never been done before; I should a little of both, if that doesnae sound completely insane.”
“No, not insane at all, my friend, not all,” Leonard McCoy said earnestly. “Not at all.”
Continued in chapter 3 "Your Young People shall See Visions"