Fic: Que Sera Sera (5/15)
Fandom: TOS/TNG/ST XI -slight AU where there isn’t a 16 year gap between the events of Generations and Star Trek 2009.
Pairings: Kirk Prime/McCoy Prime/Spock Prime, Kirk/Spock/McCoy, Scotty/Uhura
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: minor character death
Summary: Spock Prime went to save Romulus from a supernova and failed, leaving him in a universe that is similar and still so different from his own. Meanwhile in another part of the galaxy Kirk Prime was freed from the Nexus by Captain Picard and survived. Not believing that Spock Prime is dead Kirk Prime goes in search of him, and travels to the universe created when Nero went through the black hole. In that universe Kirk and Spock are starting on their five year mission, determined to write their own destinies after their encounters with Spock Prime. Unlike them McCoy doesn’t trust destiny as far as he can throw it, and he has his own problems to deal with, like getting custody of the three year old daughter he didn’t know he had.
Que Sera Sera
The Enterprise ran smooth as glass and in no time at all it seemed they put the ship in orbit around Vulcan.
Just as they had back at Spacedock Jim and McCoy traveled down to the planet in a shuttlecraft. McCoy insisted on it and Jim wasn’t about to argue. He knew he would never get McCoy onto a transporter pad again for the rest of his life.
Still the idle downtime was uneventful. They landed swiftly and they quickly moved into the heart of the city. Jim took in how much the city had grown since he had been there, letting McCoy lead the way.
After a while though Jim became curious as to where McCoy was taking them. McCoy was moving with such purpose that he clearly knew where they were going.
“Bones, it’s not that I don’t trust you with this, but who can we really get to help us here? You told me Sarek died.”
“He has. What I forgot to mention was that his remarriage had more consequences than just leaving Spock and I to wonder what the heck Sarek saw in Perrin, she is the complete opposite of Amanda, Jim, trust me.”
“What were the other consequences?”
“She provided the clan with another heir.”
“You mean…?”
McCoy nodded.
“Spock has a younger brother. He’s the head of the Vulcan Science Academy.”
McCoy explained everything as they made their way through the city. How five years after Sarek took Perrin as his wife she bore him a son. That like Spock the boy had a knack for the sciences, but unlike his older brother he had chosen to pursue those talents on Vulcan.
Still even with all that information when they arrived at the Vulcan Science Academy Jim was honestly expecting another emotional Vulcan with a beard and a stupid plan to be there waiting for them. The man that came out to greet them though looked just as most Vulcans did. His hair was cut short around his ears, though it was blond instead of the usual black. He walked up to them, his back straight and his robes swishing lightly over the sand. He was so calm and collected. His blue eyes were perfect windows to the wise soul within. He reminded Jim so much of Spock.
“Doctor McCoy, it is agreeable to see you again,” he said, as he stopped in from of them and held up one hand.
“It’s been too long, Kid. You should call me more often.”
Saluk rolled his eyes at the nickname that had never lost its use, even though he had left childhood behind long ago. Then he turned his attention to Jim.
“Captain Kirk.”
“Saluk,” Jim said, and held up his hand in a proper salute.
Saluk returned the salute in kind.
“I would like to thank you both for coming. It is gratifying to know that there are others who feel as I do that Spock is not gone.”
Jim’s eye widened in surprise.
“Have you been able to sense him? Are you two still linked?” he asked, knowing that Vulcans formed family links, and that unlike Spock and Sarek Spock and his brother had nurtured that link and allowed it to flourish into a proper bond.
Saluk shook his head. “I cannot sense him, but my brother has also told me to trust my instincts. That logic should be the foundation on which to build other skills. Right now those instincts are telling me that he is not truly gone merely…misplaced.“
Saluk was silent then as he took them into the Science Academy building and down numerous hallways to his office.
“What information have you be given, Saluk?” McCoy asked, when they were all seated.
“Very little, the Vulcan government wishes to keep a low profile on this whole…fiasco for lack of a better term.”
“What exactly has happened?” Jim asked.
“A star in the Hobus system is the one that went supernova. We were aware of the impending nova and of the danger it posed to Romulus. Because of other entanglements the Romulan Empire has recently been in they did not have the resources to combat the situation, if they could even be made to believe the situation existed at all. As you know Spock was there working to reunite our two worlds. Spock informed me that he had promised those sympathetic to the cause of unification that he could save them. We gave him all of our available resources.“
“Spock was here and he went back to Romulus to stop this?” Jim asked.
“Indeed. He was traveling with an experimental substance known as Red Matter. It was designed to contain a large release of energy. He travelled to Romulus on our fastest ship. In fact I was on the team the outfitted Spock’s ship for the journey. If he is lost I must bear some of the blame.”
“But you don’t think he is?” McCoy asked.
“No I do not. And I am certain you two can help me confirm this.”
“Why us?” Jim asked.
“Because you care for him above everything and everyone else. Spock has spoken so highly of you all my life, Captain Kirk. If there is anyone who can bring him back to me, you can.”
“I thank you for having such faith in me.”
“It is not faith. It is a logical placement of trust. In your lifetime you have performed remarkable feats. Indeed you once brought Spock back from the country from whose born no traveller is to return.”
Jim recognized the quote from Shakespeare and Jim wondered if Spock had introduced Saluk to the man’s work.
“Even now your own return after so many decades speaks of this. Defeating the no-win scenario I believe it is called.”
“Saluk, I’m just a man, not a miracle worker.”
McCoy chuckled. “No, we left him back on the ship.”
“Never the less you have proven an uncanny ability to twist situations to your advantage. Facts as they stand are also highly questionable, unless either of you have more information for me.”
Jim shook his head. “No.”
Saluk nodded, pressing several buttons and pulling up an image on the holographic display on the desk.
“As I said Red Matter was designed to contain energy by essentially sucking it in and containing it in an artificial black hole. As you know black holes rip the fabric of space time and this hole was merely meant to bend space and time to replace the gravity of the star.”
The model showed a small red ball expanding and engulfing the nearby star.
“However, this ‘field test’ if you will has not gone as we expected it to based on these types of theoretical models. First and foremost the black hole has not remained as it was meant to.”
Saluk pushed several buttons to show Jim and McCoy a new model.
“Because Romulus has been destroyed it is obvious that the star had already gone nova before Spock activated the Red Matter. This was never accounted for and so the variables have changed.”
“How could the supernova occur before Spock got there?” McCoy asked. “Even in my day we could time the event of a supernova better than this.”
“Wait!’ Jim exclaimed. “When I was talking to Picard in the Nexus he said the man he was fighting, Soran, was destroying a star. Was Soran able to do that anyway despite us being back early enough to stop him?”
“No, Jim, I’ve read the reports and Doctor Soran was arrested in the Amargosa system.”
Jim turned to McCoy in amazement.
“You have been busy, Bones, haven’t you?”
McCoy shrugged. “I have clearance to view those reports, and since you gave up the computer to go around bothering Captain Picard to hell and back I made use of it.”
“Rank has its privileges.” Jim said dryly and turned back to Saluk. “So if it wasn’t Soran, what was it?”
Saluk contemplated the question. “Trilithium is a compound the Romulans had been working with. If something went wrong it could have triggered this catastrophe.”
“But if Spock still stopped the supernova, at least partially, then where is he now?” Jim asked.
“I have sources in the Romulan Empire and they have gotten word to me that no trace of his ship has been found in the area.”
Jim dropped his head and glared at the floor. “Destroyed then.”
“No, close sweeps of the area where Romulus once was have revealed debris, several evacuation ships, mining vessels in a nearby asteroid belt and the like. Since those ships are there my brother’s should be as well. However, it is theoretically possible that he entered the black hole and arrived somewhere else outside our known universe. If the black hole ripped the fabric of space and time instead of bending it could have opened a doorway to another universe. His ship was designed to withstand the forces of the black hole to the best of our knowledge.”
Jim’s eye lit up. “Like it was then we were in Tholian space, a transfer to another dimension. He could have opened a doorway and emerged in another universe. Bones, that means we could go and find him.”
McCoy tried to bring cold reality back to situation. “But, Jim, when that happened to you, you ended up in a place where you were the only living thing there.”
“Yes, and even I managed to survive long enough for the ship to retrieve me. If Spock entered a universe that he could survive in it might not be too late. Bones, we have to try and get him back.”
“You would need a gateway into that dimension,” Saluk reminded him.
Jim smiled. “I know where we can find one.”
Saluk locked eyes with him, he gaze never faltering, and then quirked the side of his mouth up slightly.
“Somehow, I knew you would.”
***
The Enterprise left Vulcan the moment McCoy and Jim were back on board. They arrived at their destination in record time, and after dealing with the angry man running the monitoring station they managed to get down on the planet.
A cold breeze blew through the old ruins as the crew walked among them. Jim kept McCoy close and made sure his medical bag was firmly closed. Cautiously Jim approached the gateway that stood in the centre of the ruins.
“Guardian.”
Jim and his crew jumped as the Guardian glowed brightly and spoke to them.
“You have returned with a question.”
“Yes, one of us that came here last time is missing. Can you show us where he was taken to?”
The entrance of the Guardian shimmered and smoked, and then it cleared to reveal a familiar small blue dot in the blackness of space. It was Earth someone else’s Earth no doubt, but Earth just the same.
“That’s where he is.”
The image changed to show a busy street. McCoy walked up to the portal to get a better look and then checked his bag to make sure he had everything.
“Live or die, Jim, let’s get this over with.”
Jim started to join him, but then he hesitated, suddenly uncertain, and turned around. Up ahead of him new adventures waited, while behind the old guard that he had grown old with and loved dearly stood firm. How could he turn his back on them?
Scotty stepped out in front of the group and squeezed Jim’s shoulder tightly.
“Will bring ya home, Captain.”
Jim nodded in acceptance. “Thank you, Mister Scott.”
“Aye, sir.”
With that Jim joined McCoy in front of the Guardian. Together they stepped through the portal and were gone.
***
Jim and McCoy appeared in the new universe without fanfare or dramatics, instead landing rather awkwardly on soft dirt. After a moment Jim’s vision cleared to reveal well cut grass and smooth faced buildings that looked so…familiar.
“Where are we?” McCoy asked.
“It looks like Starfleet Academy, sort of. Is it from Picard’s time, Bones?”
“No, even in the 24th century it doesn’t look like this.”
They stared as a young man dressed all in red passed by them. Jim looked down at his uniform.
“And we don’t seem to be dressed the part.”
McCoy rolled his eyes. “What was your first clue?”
Jim looked around some more, spotting some clothes hang on the railing of a nearby balcony.
“What do you think, Bones? We’ll steal from the rich and give to the poor…later.”
Jim stared to move towards the balcony, until McCoy grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Oh no! You aren’t climbing up anything without Spock here to save your ass.”
“You have a better idea?”
McCoy nodded, he let go of Jim’s arm, and walked up to a pair of young women standing nearby.
“Excuse me, ladies, my friend and I seemed to have gotten ourselves a might turned around. Could you tell me where we would find the student union?”
They pointed to a dome shaped building across the campus.
“Thank you kindly.”
He took Jim’s hand and pulled him towards it.
“We’ll find some clothes at the lost and found,” he said.
“Then we find the library and start studying. We need to find out when exactly we are and how this universe is run before we have a hope of finding Spock.”
McCoy nodded in agreement and they started off to the building. They barely got halfway there before they nearly got run over as a cadet barreled past them.
“Hey watch it!”
The kid never even looked back.
McCoy snorted. “Nice to see that even here kids are still rude to their elders.”
Jim shook his head in exasperation as he watched as the kid rounded a corner and disappeared. “Some things never change.”
Chapter 6
Pairings: Kirk Prime/McCoy Prime/Spock Prime, Kirk/Spock/McCoy, Scotty/Uhura
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: minor character death
Summary: Spock Prime went to save Romulus from a supernova and failed, leaving him in a universe that is similar and still so different from his own. Meanwhile in another part of the galaxy Kirk Prime was freed from the Nexus by Captain Picard and survived. Not believing that Spock Prime is dead Kirk Prime goes in search of him, and travels to the universe created when Nero went through the black hole. In that universe Kirk and Spock are starting on their five year mission, determined to write their own destinies after their encounters with Spock Prime. Unlike them McCoy doesn’t trust destiny as far as he can throw it, and he has his own problems to deal with, like getting custody of the three year old daughter he didn’t know he had.
Que Sera Sera
The Enterprise ran smooth as glass and in no time at all it seemed they put the ship in orbit around Vulcan.
Just as they had back at Spacedock Jim and McCoy traveled down to the planet in a shuttlecraft. McCoy insisted on it and Jim wasn’t about to argue. He knew he would never get McCoy onto a transporter pad again for the rest of his life.
Still the idle downtime was uneventful. They landed swiftly and they quickly moved into the heart of the city. Jim took in how much the city had grown since he had been there, letting McCoy lead the way.
After a while though Jim became curious as to where McCoy was taking them. McCoy was moving with such purpose that he clearly knew where they were going.
“Bones, it’s not that I don’t trust you with this, but who can we really get to help us here? You told me Sarek died.”
“He has. What I forgot to mention was that his remarriage had more consequences than just leaving Spock and I to wonder what the heck Sarek saw in Perrin, she is the complete opposite of Amanda, Jim, trust me.”
“What were the other consequences?”
“She provided the clan with another heir.”
“You mean…?”
McCoy nodded.
“Spock has a younger brother. He’s the head of the Vulcan Science Academy.”
McCoy explained everything as they made their way through the city. How five years after Sarek took Perrin as his wife she bore him a son. That like Spock the boy had a knack for the sciences, but unlike his older brother he had chosen to pursue those talents on Vulcan.
Still even with all that information when they arrived at the Vulcan Science Academy Jim was honestly expecting another emotional Vulcan with a beard and a stupid plan to be there waiting for them. The man that came out to greet them though looked just as most Vulcans did. His hair was cut short around his ears, though it was blond instead of the usual black. He walked up to them, his back straight and his robes swishing lightly over the sand. He was so calm and collected. His blue eyes were perfect windows to the wise soul within. He reminded Jim so much of Spock.
“Doctor McCoy, it is agreeable to see you again,” he said, as he stopped in from of them and held up one hand.
“It’s been too long, Kid. You should call me more often.”
Saluk rolled his eyes at the nickname that had never lost its use, even though he had left childhood behind long ago. Then he turned his attention to Jim.
“Captain Kirk.”
“Saluk,” Jim said, and held up his hand in a proper salute.
Saluk returned the salute in kind.
“I would like to thank you both for coming. It is gratifying to know that there are others who feel as I do that Spock is not gone.”
Jim’s eye widened in surprise.
“Have you been able to sense him? Are you two still linked?” he asked, knowing that Vulcans formed family links, and that unlike Spock and Sarek Spock and his brother had nurtured that link and allowed it to flourish into a proper bond.
Saluk shook his head. “I cannot sense him, but my brother has also told me to trust my instincts. That logic should be the foundation on which to build other skills. Right now those instincts are telling me that he is not truly gone merely…misplaced.“
Saluk was silent then as he took them into the Science Academy building and down numerous hallways to his office.
“What information have you be given, Saluk?” McCoy asked, when they were all seated.
“Very little, the Vulcan government wishes to keep a low profile on this whole…fiasco for lack of a better term.”
“What exactly has happened?” Jim asked.
“A star in the Hobus system is the one that went supernova. We were aware of the impending nova and of the danger it posed to Romulus. Because of other entanglements the Romulan Empire has recently been in they did not have the resources to combat the situation, if they could even be made to believe the situation existed at all. As you know Spock was there working to reunite our two worlds. Spock informed me that he had promised those sympathetic to the cause of unification that he could save them. We gave him all of our available resources.“
“Spock was here and he went back to Romulus to stop this?” Jim asked.
“Indeed. He was traveling with an experimental substance known as Red Matter. It was designed to contain a large release of energy. He travelled to Romulus on our fastest ship. In fact I was on the team the outfitted Spock’s ship for the journey. If he is lost I must bear some of the blame.”
“But you don’t think he is?” McCoy asked.
“No I do not. And I am certain you two can help me confirm this.”
“Why us?” Jim asked.
“Because you care for him above everything and everyone else. Spock has spoken so highly of you all my life, Captain Kirk. If there is anyone who can bring him back to me, you can.”
“I thank you for having such faith in me.”
“It is not faith. It is a logical placement of trust. In your lifetime you have performed remarkable feats. Indeed you once brought Spock back from the country from whose born no traveller is to return.”
Jim recognized the quote from Shakespeare and Jim wondered if Spock had introduced Saluk to the man’s work.
“Even now your own return after so many decades speaks of this. Defeating the no-win scenario I believe it is called.”
“Saluk, I’m just a man, not a miracle worker.”
McCoy chuckled. “No, we left him back on the ship.”
“Never the less you have proven an uncanny ability to twist situations to your advantage. Facts as they stand are also highly questionable, unless either of you have more information for me.”
Jim shook his head. “No.”
Saluk nodded, pressing several buttons and pulling up an image on the holographic display on the desk.
“As I said Red Matter was designed to contain energy by essentially sucking it in and containing it in an artificial black hole. As you know black holes rip the fabric of space time and this hole was merely meant to bend space and time to replace the gravity of the star.”
The model showed a small red ball expanding and engulfing the nearby star.
“However, this ‘field test’ if you will has not gone as we expected it to based on these types of theoretical models. First and foremost the black hole has not remained as it was meant to.”
Saluk pushed several buttons to show Jim and McCoy a new model.
“Because Romulus has been destroyed it is obvious that the star had already gone nova before Spock activated the Red Matter. This was never accounted for and so the variables have changed.”
“How could the supernova occur before Spock got there?” McCoy asked. “Even in my day we could time the event of a supernova better than this.”
“Wait!’ Jim exclaimed. “When I was talking to Picard in the Nexus he said the man he was fighting, Soran, was destroying a star. Was Soran able to do that anyway despite us being back early enough to stop him?”
“No, Jim, I’ve read the reports and Doctor Soran was arrested in the Amargosa system.”
Jim turned to McCoy in amazement.
“You have been busy, Bones, haven’t you?”
McCoy shrugged. “I have clearance to view those reports, and since you gave up the computer to go around bothering Captain Picard to hell and back I made use of it.”
“Rank has its privileges.” Jim said dryly and turned back to Saluk. “So if it wasn’t Soran, what was it?”
Saluk contemplated the question. “Trilithium is a compound the Romulans had been working with. If something went wrong it could have triggered this catastrophe.”
“But if Spock still stopped the supernova, at least partially, then where is he now?” Jim asked.
“I have sources in the Romulan Empire and they have gotten word to me that no trace of his ship has been found in the area.”
Jim dropped his head and glared at the floor. “Destroyed then.”
“No, close sweeps of the area where Romulus once was have revealed debris, several evacuation ships, mining vessels in a nearby asteroid belt and the like. Since those ships are there my brother’s should be as well. However, it is theoretically possible that he entered the black hole and arrived somewhere else outside our known universe. If the black hole ripped the fabric of space and time instead of bending it could have opened a doorway to another universe. His ship was designed to withstand the forces of the black hole to the best of our knowledge.”
Jim’s eye lit up. “Like it was then we were in Tholian space, a transfer to another dimension. He could have opened a doorway and emerged in another universe. Bones, that means we could go and find him.”
McCoy tried to bring cold reality back to situation. “But, Jim, when that happened to you, you ended up in a place where you were the only living thing there.”
“Yes, and even I managed to survive long enough for the ship to retrieve me. If Spock entered a universe that he could survive in it might not be too late. Bones, we have to try and get him back.”
“You would need a gateway into that dimension,” Saluk reminded him.
Jim smiled. “I know where we can find one.”
Saluk locked eyes with him, he gaze never faltering, and then quirked the side of his mouth up slightly.
“Somehow, I knew you would.”
***
The Enterprise left Vulcan the moment McCoy and Jim were back on board. They arrived at their destination in record time, and after dealing with the angry man running the monitoring station they managed to get down on the planet.
A cold breeze blew through the old ruins as the crew walked among them. Jim kept McCoy close and made sure his medical bag was firmly closed. Cautiously Jim approached the gateway that stood in the centre of the ruins.
“Guardian.”
Jim and his crew jumped as the Guardian glowed brightly and spoke to them.
“You have returned with a question.”
“Yes, one of us that came here last time is missing. Can you show us where he was taken to?”
The entrance of the Guardian shimmered and smoked, and then it cleared to reveal a familiar small blue dot in the blackness of space. It was Earth someone else’s Earth no doubt, but Earth just the same.
“That’s where he is.”
The image changed to show a busy street. McCoy walked up to the portal to get a better look and then checked his bag to make sure he had everything.
“Live or die, Jim, let’s get this over with.”
Jim started to join him, but then he hesitated, suddenly uncertain, and turned around. Up ahead of him new adventures waited, while behind the old guard that he had grown old with and loved dearly stood firm. How could he turn his back on them?
Scotty stepped out in front of the group and squeezed Jim’s shoulder tightly.
“Will bring ya home, Captain.”
Jim nodded in acceptance. “Thank you, Mister Scott.”
“Aye, sir.”
With that Jim joined McCoy in front of the Guardian. Together they stepped through the portal and were gone.
***
Jim and McCoy appeared in the new universe without fanfare or dramatics, instead landing rather awkwardly on soft dirt. After a moment Jim’s vision cleared to reveal well cut grass and smooth faced buildings that looked so…familiar.
“Where are we?” McCoy asked.
“It looks like Starfleet Academy, sort of. Is it from Picard’s time, Bones?”
“No, even in the 24th century it doesn’t look like this.”
They stared as a young man dressed all in red passed by them. Jim looked down at his uniform.
“And we don’t seem to be dressed the part.”
McCoy rolled his eyes. “What was your first clue?”
Jim looked around some more, spotting some clothes hang on the railing of a nearby balcony.
“What do you think, Bones? We’ll steal from the rich and give to the poor…later.”
Jim stared to move towards the balcony, until McCoy grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Oh no! You aren’t climbing up anything without Spock here to save your ass.”
“You have a better idea?”
McCoy nodded, he let go of Jim’s arm, and walked up to a pair of young women standing nearby.
“Excuse me, ladies, my friend and I seemed to have gotten ourselves a might turned around. Could you tell me where we would find the student union?”
They pointed to a dome shaped building across the campus.
“Thank you kindly.”
He took Jim’s hand and pulled him towards it.
“We’ll find some clothes at the lost and found,” he said.
“Then we find the library and start studying. We need to find out when exactly we are and how this universe is run before we have a hope of finding Spock.”
McCoy nodded in agreement and they started off to the building. They barely got halfway there before they nearly got run over as a cadet barreled past them.
“Hey watch it!”
The kid never even looked back.
McCoy snorted. “Nice to see that even here kids are still rude to their elders.”
Jim shook his head in exasperation as he watched as the kid rounded a corner and disappeared. “Some things never change.”
Chapter 6