STARFLEET ACADEMY, 2283Six months, Saavik thought. Six months since they had shared any kind of meaningful contact. Not that contact in their case was any great shakes.
Penetration was out. On a deep psychosomatic level, neither of them could bear it. If he didn't go limp after entry-an unbelievable disappointment-she froze up. That space between her legs that had been a screaming hunger for his offering of brief paradise transformed into a severed limb, screaming at the memory of its own loss, whenever that happened.
She had been raped as a child almost every month since she was five, up until she was seven. He had been raped three hundred times in the space of one weekend, with only his superhuman physiology keeping him alive. One of his attackers had shattered his jaw during the assault. Saavik remembered warning this woman later on that if she touched him again, her considerable chest-size would be forcibly reduced. It was a threat she had later carried out.
The pain of violation could not be erased so easily, though. Saavik's rapists had taken her one at a time. Also, she knew no better life. But Peter had been taken in every way except one. The first man to put something in his mouth died from shock as it was spat back in his face. They threatened to remove his teeth. But no one went near his mouth again. They didn't need to. When one of the Admirals--male or female--was using him, the others were grabbing every portion of his body. He still felt those hands upon him--even when they belonged to his father or his sister/lover/thy'la/you-name-it. Once, he had even nearly killed Captain Kirk and his crew, when the paranoid young man, newly freed, mistook a childish game of 'peek-a-boo' for an attack.
Saavik understood feral behavior. Once, when just freed from Hellguard, someone had dumped a tray of food she was eating, mistakenly thinking she was done. In fact, she never wasted anything she took to eat. Such habits were well-learned, on a world called Hellguard. She also never allowed anyone to touch her food. After beating the student savagely, it was three more years before she was allowed back in Vulcan's public schools.
Just once, they managed to break through the pain. Fighting it all back furiously, they humped their way through a heavenly half-hour. There was no skill used--they were each other's firsts. But the knowledge that it was Peter pumping himself into her, and not some callous Romulan soldier, made it all seem magical. From his face, she could see the anticipated joy of release. He joked that for once, he wouldn't have to clean his hands. The build-up was clumsy. The climax was ecstasy. The best either of them had ever felt. They mind-melded as a result.
She had accessed his innermost fantasies. In them, Saavik was a Bride and then a Mother. She then became furious at him for entertaining romantic notions about a physical relationship. He was furious at her for the intrusion. This fury leaked out into the real world with a vengeance. She immobilized and took him using a method that brought no pleasure and much pain. She didn't stop until his privates were red, and swollen. Breaking free, he bound her up and took her from behind, using the chief method his attackers had used. Realizing what he had done, Peter fled Vulcan--and her.
Within three months, they were back together again, but much more tentatively. She couldn't shake the look of betrayal on his face as he was taken. The sound of her tears as she begged him to stop rang in his thoughts. But they needed one another, and not just for sex. They were family on several levels, and each other's closest confidants. They were all the other truly had. They were all the other truly wanted.
She was glad the semester was over, and with it the back-breaking work of a third-year cadet. Unwilling to give Ghidorah's worshippers in The Admiralty any leeway, they maintained perfect school-records at Starfleet Academy. This left no time--for anything. As they waited at the transport arrival site, she imagined his face at her crotch, licking and kissing in his clumsy but enthusiastic way. One friend had confided to her that her boyfriend refused to do this. Her envy would have faded had Saavik told her that such contact was almost all they had. Sometimes, she would simply have him leave his face there, the pressure a pleasure unto itself. She needed to be home on Vulcan--for a number of reasons.
"The Transport Will Be Delayed Approximately Three Hours. Please Return Then. That Is All."
All the cadets were disappointed, but not Saavik. She had almost prayed for this delay. She had certainly planned for its possibility.
"Peter, you should come with me."
Peter Kirk had once been led by a girl he liked straight into a huge rally of The Order Of The Ancient Destroyer. There, King Ghidorah's bigoted worshippers had attempted to recruit the being destined to slay their demon. They had failed. After a harsh wilderness trek home, Peter got his revenge on her in the worst way possible-he wrote a school report thanking her for her pro-Alien stance and viewpoint, calling her truly enlightened. Her xenophobic friends never trusted her again. But her memory was long done with, and he would follow Saavik anywhere. She was one of ten beings Peter trusted at all.
Unlike many other such institutions, Academy Break meant a cleared campus. Sadly, it was because of this that Peter's violation in Admiralty Hall went unnoticed. Now, though, it would serve them both. While most refresher areas were now communal, Saavik headed for one of the few that were used by humanoid species who believed in separation of the sexes when bathing. She entered it with a code she had obtained.
"It is hardly used, even during finals. Now, we should have complete privacy."
Peter smiled, having the added turn-on of a woman he was intensely attracted to who made provisions for their encounters. They were kissing as soon as the doors closed. Their tongues actually struck one another while they did so, a playful form of combat they both loved. This continued for ten minutes.
Then, like a bow on a Christmas present, Peter felt his buckle being undone. It never ceased to amaze him that this gorgeous creature whom he held so dear actually wanted to take so unsanitary a thing inside her mouth. Today, though, she was a bit less straightforward. To his eternal delight. Once he was exposed, she just let it hang in front of her for a moment. She let his anticipation build. Her mouth never opened. He surrendered his dignity, and started to beg.
"Saavik-kam? The fleshy thing between my legs? You're supposed to make use of it. Please?"
She enjoyed these moments of total control. It was only fair, she reasoned. He had possessed her from the moment they met. She wondered how much of it all had been influenced by his being the first man she had ever seen naked. She also decided that didn't matter. She took off her tunic, and then her undershirt.
"Saavik, if you put your breasts there, I don't think I'm gonna hold out very long."
"Peter-Kam, do you trust me?"
"Of course."
She touched his neck.
"This is a version of the immobilizer touch I once used on you, in a time of blind hate. But you will not be immobile, simply unable to climax until I release you. You shall know pleasure."
He kissed and suckled her breasts, briefly.
"Intense pleasure."
She made the touch. He felt no change until she took his member and started tracing her right breast with it, and then the left, and then the gap between them. Her self-deprecation over chest size never seemed more stupid to Peter than at that moment. Right then, they felt voluminous. Then again, he was using a larger finger to touch them with.
Poking each one as though true entry were possible, Peter moved back and forth like a child trying to pop a balloon. Wanting to get back to the transport depot in case of an earlier-than-scheduled arrival, Saavik began her finale. Rubbing each side once, she rose up and dropped down, causing his manhood to turn on top of and then under each breast. When she could sense the pressure inside him reaching critical mass, she used her chest in a sanding motion, stimulating her entire breast region all at once. She then undid her own trousers, and pushed onto him from behind.
Briefly releasing the climax-lock, she felt a rush inside her hind-quarters that almost lifted her up off the ground. But the hold was back on in a millisecond, and Saavik then mounted him face-to-face. Kissing him, and raising up her legs to catch around him, she felt his hands grab at her ass. Fully together, Saavik now released the hold entirely. It was like pouring a match on rocket fuel. She kept the screams inside them through the kiss, causing an intense vibration. It had all happened too quickly for their traitorous minds to frighten them into stopping. The Children Of The Enterprise had beaten the odds.
Leaving Peter in an exhausted heap, Saavik made for the showers. She wept, but not from joy. For they hadn't actually done it. As always, they had to cheat. She was tired of cheating. She wanted her head slammed into a bedboard. She--and he--both wanted simple, humanoid sex. They were tired of settling for less.
She went back out from her stall. Peter had vanished. Dressing quickly, she felt a wrongness. Saavik had heard him using the refreshers, and so checked that area. She felt around and found a hollow sheet of flooring. Grabbing her collapsible Lirpa, she smashed through it with the blunt end. Beneath was a sloping tunnel. Rumors and urban legends long held that the Admiralty grabbed them quickly, and unseen. She cursed herself, realizing anew that 'always watched' meant exactly what it said.
"Be strong, Peter-Kam. They shall not have you long. Nor shall they live much longer."
To retrieve her man, a woman who thought herself of no importance jumped through the hole, there to confront monsters in human form. This time, they would pay dearly.
----------------------------------------
He needed his bearings, so his enemies made damned sure that he landed with a bone-jarring thud. He needed light, so they made sure it was dark. He had terrific strength, so they immediately sprayed him with a powerful sedative, shredding his motor control. He was a telepath, so they had put up a psi-supression field. The Order Of The Ancient Destroyer had once again successfully kidnapped Peter Kirk.
He was naked, and his privates were still sore from Saavik's intense manipulation. His leg was bleeding from where tunnel-friction had stripped skin from it. As three of his would be captors learned as they fell, he was also two other things : The prophesied slayer of King Ghidorah, and the son of Captain James T. Kirk. But none of that could help him, now. He was weakened, and his enemies were pummeling him with phasers set on heavy stun. When he was down, they kicked him.
More and more emerged, and it all grew more savage. Punched and kicked constantly, Peter felt his mind slip. It was again 15 years ago, and he was again a little boy on the verge of being raped, then thrown in cryo.
>From the tunnel-slide emerged his other half. The scene sickened her, and not merely for its brutality. The over one hundred cadets involved were all people she knew. They were all people Peter knew. They had both called them all friend. Another lie, then, at the direction of Admiralty Hall. Saavik Brianna Kirk had taken enough.
"Its The Vulcan!"
The girl who shouted this aimed her phaser rifle, but found she could not pull the trigger. The sharp end of Saavik's lirpa had taken her arm off at the shoulder. She screamed.
"You BITCH!!!!!"
Saavik took the blunt end, and pulped her head.
"I will trust your professional's opinion on that subject."
Ten of them ran at her, ready to fire killing rays at point-blank range. They needed Peter alive, for the connection he shared with Ghidorah. To them, Saavik was expendable. To Saavik, they were expendable. They all ran past, having never fired their weapons. As the top halves of their bodies fell ahead of the lower halves, the lucky ones were already dead of shock.
One of the upperclassmen must have been insane, and actually tried to rape Peter in front of her.
"I owe him for my Dad."
Before he could accomplish this, the blunt end of Saavik's Lirpa pulverized his private parts, which were then completely severed. She repeated this on the four cohorts who had held Peter down. Three then committed suicide.
"Do not weep. You never were true men, in any event."
Phaser bolts do not travel at light speed, and certainly not as quick as an enraged Saavik. Within five minutes, the room was awash in dead bodies. It seemed she had won.
Then, the next wave emerged. She was rendered unconscious quicker than her warrior's mind could react.
"Get them off of her. I want to pry her ears off while I take her from behind. Never rode a Vulcan before."
One word came out of the darkness.
"No."
His eyes glowing, Peter arose from a pool of his own blood. He was floating.
"Die."
One and all, they had been recruited by The Order. All the loudmouths. All the snobs. All the crass bigots who wondered what 'aliens' were doing in 'their' universe. Under The Admiralty's direction, they harassed students from offworld, terrorized humans who did not believe as they did, and obtained unwanted infants for heart sacrifice to Ghidorah. Sometimes, even wanted infants were taken. They were the top, favored elite of Starfleet Academy. But now, they were meat.
Saavik had killed 100, and another 100 had felled her in turn. Now, Peter shoved them all, living and dead, into an elevator they had revealed to be used to take him up to the Hall. 200 bodies were compacted into an elevator that was barely meant for two. Using psychokinesis, Peter found room for them all. With a gesture, he sent the charnel-car crashing through the floors of Admiralty Hall above them. The rough, tough, people who had destroyed Peter now were treated to an oozing red mass that would not be easily forgotten.
Down below, Peter sealed off all the various tunnels. The Admiralty's Chicken-Hawk tendencies would now have to be fed another way. His powerful unconscious mind in overdrive, and wishing only safety, Peter teleported himself and Saavik all the way to Vulcan.
When Lady Amanda returned to her home, she saw the girl who was her unacknowledged granddaughter bruised and battered, and weeping openly over Peter's bloody form. The young titan was again close to death.
"Saavik?! Oh My God, What Happened? We got your message saying that you were taking a later transport ...but you didn't send that, did you? Does the Order have technology that can fool even Vulcan's identity..."
She looked up, her right-eye half closed, her lips puffy from the attempts to resuscitate Peter.
"Mother--please--HELP HIM!"
As Amanda called the Healer, Saavik felt a savage stirring inside her. She knew that she had killed those other cadets not merely out of defense or vengeance. She remembered that she was now twenty-one. An age that was a multiple of seven meant everything to a Vulcan. It was early in her life, to be sure, but all the signs were there. She uttered two significant words before passing out herself.
"Pon Farr."
Pon Farr-The Amok Time, was upon The Rock Of Prophecy. Both of them.
-------------------------------------
Peter Kirk sat bolt upright. He was in pain, and he was screaming.
"WHERE IS MY BABY?!"
As the healers pushed Peter back down, he looked at Saavik, who stood by him throughout.
"Saavik-kam, they took little Marc from me. But he's not dead. I saved my family from...GHIDORAH! GHIDORAH! GHI-DO-RAH! I'm coming for you, monster! I Am The Rock! I will kill you! Look over the hill, Ghidorah! Look at the face behind the hill, for that face is mine!"
The elder healer, T'Nia, finally found the proper combination of sedatives, and calmed the screaming eighteen-year old. He was actually twenty-eight, but ten years of his life were spent in a cryogenic hell.
"Saavik, he speaks of a baby named Marc. Do you know of this?"
"Yes, T'Nia. Marcus Aurelian Kirk was Peter's infant brother, who died of neglect on Deneva Three during the parasite infestation. Peter was his primary caregiver. He was fiercely attached to the baby. The child considered Peter, not the Kirks, to be his true parent."
T'Nia seemed annoyed at these words.
"The boy would have been ten. Were his parents unable to care for the infant themselves?"
"It was a colony world with many dark secrets. Peter speaks of it only rarely. He loved his parents, but they were lazy of mind and body. They found that he was good at his chores."
The scanners continued to diagnose the young titan. "There are signs of old scars. Did they beat him, as well?"
"No. But his grandmother did. She--was afraid of him."
"Feh. With such family as that, I must wonder why he and James Kirk are so stable. The boy must keep something monstrous contained within."
Saavik remembered T'Pring's death. She had been found at the bottom of a crater, and this had been after crossing Peter. Saavik shed no tears for that woman, the cause of so much pain in both their lives.
"You could say that."
"Saavik, call in Lady Amanda. Have Soreth prepare a regimen for your Pon Farr. You have no bondmate, and will require medication. During Plak Tow you will have to be sedated entirely. Perhaps we will have to even induce a controlled coma."
"But I do not wish to leave him."
"Saavikkam--you can do nothing for him, right now. He is wounded, but will live. To live, he requires rest--not the attentions of a young woman who is known to be good with her hands."
Saavik's slight flush of embarrassment accomplished what T'Nia wanted. Amanda entered. She gasped at the sight of the wounded young man. "I--didn't really get a good look at him, before. T'Nia, please tell me he'll be all right."
"He shall. But people forget that phaser rifles set on heavy stun carry the impact of a small club. He was hit roughly a thousand times, that I can determine. His body shall recover, in fact already it is recovering. It is his mind that concerns me, Amanda. The worst thing that ever happened to him nearly happened again. Whether Vulcan or Off Worlder, that may not be taken lightly. You must all be patient with him."
Amanda leaned over and kissed the boy's cheek.
"T'Nia, he's brought the light back to my granddaughter's eyes. He is precious to me. To Sarek. He is worth any effort. Happily, their grades will permit them to avoid pre-Semester preparations."
The great woman then uttered words she hoped never to say, yet that Peter's wounds demanded of her.
"We are in a war."
Outside, Sarek sat with Saavik, in the family's private waiting booth. Growing ever-more emotional, Sarek had been depending on the returning Peter to recharge his faculties. Now, the Ambassador was forced to withdraw from certain duties, almost entirely. The unwitting, century-long carriage of his dead parents' katras had eaten away the psychic basis of his emotional control structure. He would keep his coherence, and his memories. Yet Sarek well knew that the creature left behind when all was done might not be properly called a Vulcan. Peter Kirk's powerful mind was the only thing that could fully restore the man most people thought of when describing Sarek Of Vulcan.
But the time with his family was also important to him, and especially that time with the granddaughter he could not acknowledge publicly.
"My child, he will be all right. Do not let the love you feel for him cause you undue worry."
"I do love Peter, Father. But it will not distract me. While our love is mutual--we are not in love."
"I find that surprising to hear. Then why do you talk endlessly with one another, and close your bedroom doors against intrusion? If not love, then what would you call it?"
"We are family, by way of adoption. We are best friends. I will not attempt to deny the physical attraction is there. But romantic love is not for such as us. Not in a universe that could produce monsters like those of The Order. We have a friendship--we have an unresolved sexual attraction. That is all."
Sarek got up to go join Amanda.
"You are Th'yla--a term with a terrifically complex meaning. And I would say that you have an unresolvable physical attraction."
He left her alone with his words. Once alone, she began to speak.
"I Am Not In Love. He is my brother, that is all. We are not blood, so we act upon the natural sibling curiosity. We are shattered things, grasping to one another for air. I Am Not In Love With Him. He Is Not In..."
Oddly, some part of her would not let her finish the sentence.
Three weeks later, Peter was ready to depart the hospital. Joyfully, Saavik moved to help him walk with his temporary cane.
"Here, Peter, I shall place your arm...."
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
He was pulling away, shaking like a leaf. No one could hope to ignore the outburst.
"Don't anyone touch me. I can handle myself."
Saavik's eyes teared up, though she managed to control this.
"Peter. Let me help." He pushed her off of him, forcefully and without hesitation.
"Saavik--please. In the name of God, Don't Touch Me. I won't be touched. Am I Understood?"
Peter indeed made his own difficult way to the transport, allowing no help from Sarek, Amanda, or anyone. He shook if someone even came too close. Amanda stared at him, dejected, as he passed.
"Five years worth of progress, erased in one hideous afternoon. He was like this after he was first rescued, Sarek."
"It is as T'Nia said--the worst thing that ever happened to him was very nearly repeated. They meant to violate and imprison him, my wife. For any one, that would weigh heavily. Perhaps even to the breaking point."
As they all left, Saavik stared at the hand he had batted away. She was then glad she was not in love with Peter. For if she was, her heart would surely have been breaking, right about then.
---------------------------------------------
Peter went into the living room. There, all alone, sat a shaking Saavik. He remembered how he had been as he first emerged from the hospital. Downing some iced tea, he went to sit beside her. But it was at a slight remove. It was a divided hunger he felt, wanting her on him, so wanting to be inside her---so repulsed by the touch of any other being. There was no point even attempting to be with her if her wondrous touch made him want to crawl out of his skin. Then, there was the feeling of trying to screw a corpse, when her delta would grow cold in her own remembered panic. He spoke.
"I just wanted to apologize for how I acted."
She did not turn to look at him.
"Apology not accepted. Now go away."
"Saavik-kam...Please?"
"I said to go away!"
Her hand darted out in a familiar pattern. He chose not to block it, and was slapped as a result. This seemed to startle her.
"Peter, I am soon to enter my Pon Farr. To survive it, I may have to be rendered comatose. Add to that, you are not among my favorite people at this time."
"That's not fair. I had just survived the worst kidnapping attempt since we went to the academy. You knew what I would be like. Suppose you were being dragged back to Hellguard?"
She shook her head.
"I would still want your touch. Ours is a sexual contract, Peter. We have agreed to keep trying until our common attraction is resolved. You have not kept to your end of the bargain."
She stood up, and to his shock, dropped her pants. She sat back down, and opened her legs.
"You will do so now."
"Cover Yourself! Amanda and Sarek are in their room. Are You Nuts?"
Her eyes said that Peter was not too far off the mark.
"Attend Me."
"Don't You Think I Want To? But even holding your hand makes me shake apart. Newsflash, Sis--It almost happened again."
Her eyes again, were as stone.
"But it didn't happen. I prevented it. Logic dictates that you owe me-Brother!"
Bound by their old agreement, he put his face into a miniature blast furnace, and began to once again find joy as his cheeks and nose were scraped and his tongue kissed a second mouth that only grew wider as he went.
Bound by their old agreement, he fought to put his face near another being, one that could punch, kick, or taunt him. His jaw was trying to flee his skull, the memories of its shattering still vivid. She was red, and growing redder still. The salt smell was very much like that of blood, his own blood that gushed as Cartwright beat him while he was held down, a lunatic bigot riding his behind.
She came very quickly, and caught her residue with cloths she had waiting. She then pushed the quivering mass of her lover down to the ground. Reaching into her pocket, Saavik pulled out a five-Credit slip. She pushed it under Peter's shirt, and looked at him with contempt. He asked the obvious question.
"Why five credits?"
"Because you didn't deserve ten. You were lousy."
He knew it was the Pon Farr speaking. As it approached, even the most balanced of Vulcans could easily turn on those they cared for. Saavik Brianna Kirk was not the most balanced of Vulcans. Peter picked himself up, and looked her in the eye.
"Even a whore has to work with the material he's presented."
Before she could react, he pushed past Saavik, re-entered his room, and double-locked his door.
When Amanda came out, she saw her baby's baby crying. The girl looked up.
"Mother--I hurt him again."
Inside his room, Peter recorded a few telling words in his journal.
"Loving Saavik is driving me insane."
He switched off the recorder. There was a knock at his door.
"Quer ka, Sri Sarek."
Sarek entered.
"Very good, Peter. Both your telepathic control and your command of Vulcanese show vast improvement. I detected neither accent in your speech nor telepathic intrusion as you scanned me."
"Sarek--you walk with a very distinctive gait. I didn't need to scan you. Plus, I've been practicing Vulcan curses."
Sarek felt the boy's bitterness on many levels.
"Peter--it is not her fault. She cares for you."
Peter ignored him.
"She Loves You."
He tried a quip.
"Well, of course she does. She's my sister, after all."
Sarek cocked his head.
"Sisters do not stare at their brothers' belt buckles as if they were the gate to ShakaRee."
Peter tried to dismiss his words.
"So she lost a bet, and didn't want to welch. She would have had me doing the dishes for a year. Some families are just like that."
The Piercian quip drew a chuckle from the ever-more emotional Sarek.
"Peter, I am forced to go off-world. I need a full recharge of my faculties. Can you do this?"
Peter looked up at his mentor, sponsor, host and friend.
"Will Spock be in attendance at this emergency conference?"
This time, Sarek knew he had been scanned.
"Yes. As Federation Ambassador to Q'onos. He will also represent Klingon interests there." Peter bit down.
"Well, of course. After all, he's shown the Klingons every respect and courtesy. Effort. Patience. Things he never bothered to show his best friend's daughter."
Sarek's mental shields flew up, alerting Peter to a possible further deception.
"Let your son recharge you, Sarek. I can't even abide Saavik's touch, right now."
Sarek nodded, and began to leave. Grabbing his head suddenly, he sat down on the floor. Peter became concerned, feeling his panic in waves.
"Its all right, Sarek. Here, let me help...."
Peter grasped Sarek's temples, and initiated the meld. He knew, then. His face turned to fire.
"I've called you Father! Then you pull this deception to get what you need? No one helps me with my burden. King Ghidorah invades my mind, the memories of murdered worlds assault me--when do I get recharged?"
When it was done, Sarek stood up, his faculties fully restored.
"I regret the necessity of my actions. But at this conference, I intend to make initial contacts to gather diplomatic acceptance of our proof regarding the Ancient Destroyer's existence. As for your recharge--go to Saavik. She needs you now, more than ever."
Peter turned away from Sarek, as had Sybok and Spock before him.
"Live Long And Prosper, Father."
Sarek left, but Amanda came in after him.
"We'll be gone for three weeks. While I don't want to leave Saavik, I know I can trust you to take her to the hospital when the blood fever strikes, Peter. Please understand what she's going through--she is difficult--but she loves you. That's why she acts as she does. She knows you love her and will forgive her."
When Peter did not respond, Amanda closed the door. "How is he, Amanda?"
Amanda looked harshly at the other half of her soul.
"Husband, if you ever use that boy against his will again, I will leave you. Am I understood?"
Sarek's face showed his shock and his shame, so nothing more was said of it. The problem was, he thought, that Peter was so giving an individual. On those rare occasions when he would hold back, it almost infuriated those around him into taking what they needed and wanted.
By that night, the older couple were gone. Saavik entered Peter's room. Her look was calmer, but quite ashamed.
"Please do not hate me."
"I don't hate you. But you shouldn't have enforced our agreement. I can't be with you, when all I feel are the hands of The Enemy upon me."
"May I sleep beside you tonight?"
"I'm not going to sleep. But you can stay in my bed, if you like. I'll be doing our assignments for the next term."
In order to better harass the corrupt Admiralty, Peter often used semester breaks to pre-finish the pair's schoolwork. It could only cover the basics, but it meant that they had free time in an Academy known for devouring it. Many of the Order's schemes came a cropper as a result.
Comfortable in his bed and with his scent, Saavik rapidly fell asleep. Peter turned and saw her, and was thankful that she had not undressed.
"Apologies, Saavikkam. There are times I think I'm little better than a collection of anger poured into human form. Its hard to see past myself, oftentimes. You are so strong. But you can't see that. I only hate you when you sell yourself short."
Gently, he got up, tucked her in, and began to sing, finding himself still unable to even hold her hand.
"Hushabye, Hushabye--Oh, My Darling, Don't You Cry. Guardian Angels Up Above--Take Care Of The One I Love."
It took all he had to plant a simple peck on her cheek. He cursed his weakness.
"Lullabye--And Good Night--In Your Dreams, I Hold You Tight--Lullabye, And Good Night--Til The Dawn's Early Light."
Apart yet never apart, The Children Of The Enterprise were a strong comfort to each other through the long night.
-----------------------------
THE CONFERENCE
Sarek stared at Spock, disbelieving.
"What Did You Just Ask Me?"
Spock spoke again, uncomprehending.
"Father, I asked you about the health and well-being of Young Peter Kirk. Is he unwell?"
Amanda shook her head at this non sequitur.
"Spock--what about Saavik?"
The Federation Ambassador to Q'onos shrugged.
"What of her?"
Sarek felt part of his restored calm slip.
"Spock, your daughter is about to enter Pon Farr. Does this not concern you?"
"Father, she is Jim's daughter, not mine. I will assume that she has entered a physician's care. Her health and well-being is not a concern. But Jim reports that Peter seemed depressed, when last they spoke via commcall. Again I ask--Is he unwell?"
Sarek tried to regain himself. But this confrontation had been building since the day a shaking Spock had confessed his rape at the hands of a Romulan Commander. The little girl Saavik was the result of that forced union. Having relayed his information, Spock then retreated into a logical delusion, again telling himself his violation had never occurred.
Rather than let the little one be a permanent guest on her own homeworld, technical citizen James Kirk adopted her. He was the best substitute father a girl ever had.
But she always knew that the one who gave her life found her a repulsive reminder of the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Without knowing who Spock truly was, Saavik felt his importance to her. Buried more deeply was her importance to him. She thought Spock hated her, and he had never given her any indication this wasn't the case. Sarek felt he could tolerate this no longer.
"Saavik--Daughter Of Spock."
"Father, you will stop saying that."
Sarek began to shake openly. Spock remained in an icy calm.
"Saavik--Daughter Of Spock."
Again, no outward reaction from Spock.
"Peter and Saavik have both been violated. Do you also continually seek to remind them of that?"
"They are children. You are not. Acknowledge your daughter, or I shall cry-Saavik-Daughter Of Spock-to every delegate here."
"You shall not."
"How will you stop me?"
Spock nodded, again quite calmly.
"Sybok--Son Of Sarek."
Silence fell on the elder Vulcan. That part of Spock that desired denial had called on an Ace. Sybok the notorious religious fanatic could never be acknowledged as Sarek's son. The scandal would have been far too great. Sarek conceded defeat.
"Saavik Brianna Kirk, daughter of James, sister of Peter, and of a deceased infant named Marc."
"A wise choice, Father. How is Young Peter Kirk? Is he unwell?"
Sarek retreated from the wall of living stone to meditate. Amanda asked a question, but shuddered anew from finding out what her son's mind would do to spare him the memories of savage Hellguard.
"Peter is fine, Spock. Why shouldn't he be? Saavik is the one undergoing Pon Farr."
"Saavik, Mother? Saavik, Daughter Of---"
Amanda turned Spock's sudden love of word-games against him. Her boy was in pain--but so was the child he had produced, in turn. She would have no more of this.
"Saavik Brianna Kirk--daughter of Captain James T. Kirk. A great father, Spock. He goes out of his way to make damned sure his little girl is happy. But he can't always be there, for her. So her brother holds her, and loves her. But they're not blood relations, Spock. Do you wish to hear what advantage they take of that fact?"
"Mother, I do not see the need for this."
Amanda knew she had him.
"Why not? We're in private. She eyes him like a candy store, Spock. He views her as a loving bitch-goddess, terrible and beautiful. She rescued him, Spock. He saved her soul in return. When at home, they lie together naked most nights. They adore each other. He begs her to sit on his face. She begs him to put what he has in her mouth. The daughter of that unknown Vulcan regularly begs a boy for something most boys have to beg to get some girls to even consider. Of course, he joyfully returns the favor."
Spock's eyes grew enraged.
"Mother, this talk is unlike you. It is gutter talk. Now--Sybok, son ---"
Amanda gave not an inch.
"Oh, go ahead. I want Sybok back in the family, remember? And if gutter talk starts to shake something loose in this family, then maybe I'll start walking the streets at night in T'Navat City. I've overheard the children, Spock. They never notice me. One night, they had rolled up a pillow, and she placed it under her stomach, behind raised almost to the ceiling. She has such a nice one, you know. Peter's member must be nice, too. Its likely not as large as Saavik seems to think it is--but I'm sure it is respectable. She wailed like a banshee, Spock. The son of Kirk was riding the daughter of that poor unknown Vulcan like a gaucho--and she just kept yelling his name--when she wasn't yelling 'Harder'."
Spock looked at her, disbelieving.
"Has Sarek's madness affected you, as well?"
"I have my own madness, Spock. My madness makes me desire my children's happiness. If talking like a sailor is what starts the wheels rolling in that direction--then that's what I'll do. Spock, she has Jim, and she has us, and she has Peter. But she needs you. Whoever you are, she needs you. She would never tell you the things I just did. If I weren't so hell-bent on making you see the light, neither would I. But she might tell you how he makes her feel. If you'd listen."
Amanda's shock-therapy had the desired effect. The man who so loved his daughter began to emerge from hiding. But the warden of his pain clamped down, hard, and would not be put off.
"Apparently, Mother--he makes her feel like a common strumpet."
As Spock walked off, Amanda sat in dejection. To have come so very close, and yet failed her boy yet again--was a bit much to bear. She felt like washing her own mouth out with soap. Still, the images of her twenty-one year-old granddaughter writhing in ecstasy with the eighteen year-old Peter were vivid and compelling. She had decided to ask Sarek back to their quarters, when a bit of hard arithmetic struck her. As
Sarek returned, he saw the concern on her face."Wife? Is It Spock? He will no longer speak with me."
"No, husband. Its Peter. Sarek, how old is he?"
"Physically, or chronologically?"
"Chronologically."
"He is twenty-eight."
"Where did he spend his fourteenth and twenty-first birthdays?"
"As you well know, he spent them as a prisoner of Admiralty Hall, in cryo-stasis."
Amanda looked pensive.
"Sarek, is Peter eighteen or twenty-eight? What does his mind and body's inner clock say?"
"It would ignore the effects of cryostasis, and tell him he is twenty-eight."
"So his body's most basic functions will tell him he is twenty-eight, despite the lost time."
"Wife, I do not see the point in these questions."
"Sarek--Peter is one-fourth Vulcanoid--Romulan-- but still Vulcanoid, nevertheless. So what happens when an unbonded Vulcanoid male technically in his twenty-eighth year is exposed to the scents and motions of an unbonded female in her twenty-first year?"
Sarek sat, and nodded.
"It never occurred to me, since he is so very human. But Peter may be on the verge of entering a limited Pon Farr himself. Even more than the attack, it would explain his mood swings, his desire not to be touched. Further, his exposure to Saavik may have caused him to become hyper sensitive, afraid to be touched. Amanda, we must return."
"You don't think he'll try to bond with Saavik during her Pon Farr, do you? He would know that the survival rate for an undirected bonding during Pon Farr is nil? Especially if his own time has come. But he doesn't know that his grandfather is a Romulan. Sarek, they could both die! Peter's health-his sanity-if those two are lost--"
Without an ounce of irony, Sarek said what he felt to be true in highly dramatic terms.
"If they are lost, Wife--then King Ghidorah has won. And The Universe
Is Doomed."-----------------------------------------
George Samuel Kirk, Junior--Captain Kirk's brother 'Sam', had been rendered sterile by an accident. To keep up the family line, Jim had fathered Sam and Aurelan's two sons. He was only meant to be a genetic donor. Sam and Aurelan were to be the only parents that Peter in 2255, and 'Marc' in 2265, were to ever know. They were to grow up, and live lives no different than any other children.
It made for an interesting theory, anyway.
But a form of madness struck Deneva, as it had many other colony worlds. An old notion sprung up about why one had children. By the time Peter Kirk was born, it was accepted and tolerated though never spoken of that children did the work on colony worlds that automation was too expensive for and that adults weren't necessary for. Suddenly, a great many tasks became redefined as somehow being 'adult-unnecessary'. It might have seemed something from a fairy tale's beginning, but in fact it was still slavery.
Even by the standards of other Denevans, though, Sam and Aurelan were off the mark. When Peter was three, their house degenerated into a cycle of booze and neglect. Sam, browbeaten by his abusive mother Brianna, wanted his childhood back. Aurelan, whose own parents carried a bizarre backstory, wanted her teen years back, spent as they were being one of the extraordinary young women who slew the demons that haunt the edge of our fragile existence. Whatever they wanted to purchase back, it was Peter who paid the price.
Tomas Cartwright, father of the vile Admiral Brock Cartwright, and a friend of George Kirk, Sr., found the boy wandering in a daze, nearly-starved. Peter was remanded to the custody of a family guardian who knew that this was no mere little boy. He was one-half of the equation meant to turn back eternal night. Made to suppress abilities too dangerous for a child to wield, he was also taught how to cook and clean for himself. The good news was, he would endure. The bad news was, Sam and Aurelan had not learned anything from nearly losing their son.
Peter was soon enough juggling an intense school schedule, all the chores in the home, and the care of two adults with too much grant money and not enough common sense. But they did see a rebellion coming, and so Aurelan again contacted her brother-in-law, Jim. That Sam was not told led to problems that had barely resolved themselves in time for Aurelan to again give birth.
Marcus Aurelian Kirk, named for his mother and his *Uncle Jim's* once-again girlfriend Carol, returned home with his family. His older brother fed and cleaned him, and became the only parent the infant ever really knew. To Marc, the odd, lazy grownups who wrestled and argued were his funny brother and sister. He saw how angry they made Peter, though. Somehow, the smile on the baby's face always made that murderous rage pass. It was a hard, but a good life.
Then Ghidorah's parasites came.
An entire planet was infested by the neural nightmares--including Peter. Unconscious, he yet heard the words of someone dying of lonely neglect. A word was repeated that the infant surely thought was a combination of 'Mama' and 'Papa'.
"Pita. Pita. Pita! Pita! PITA!!! PIIIITTTAAAA!!"
The worst day came when the cries finally stopped. Not long after, he heard Uncle Jim's voice crying out at the discovery of Marc's body. His thoughts were simple.
"The baby is dead. Who will I take care of now?"
"I Failed My Brother."
--------------------------------------------
VULCAN, 2283
Awaking from this dream, he walked out to the kitchen for milk.
"Pi--ta?"
She had wet herself again. Her pants probably had another load in them. She was drooling, and incoherent. Her Pon Farr was not yet realized, but even at this early stage it could not help but have its effects.
The nervous boyfriend vanished. The scared little boy, a victim of rape, went with him. Also gone was the quarrelsome brother who couldn't say outright how much he loved her because it sounded so dumb. In all their places was the caregiver.
The boyfriend would have giggled as he peeled her clothes off. The little boy would have grumbled 'Why Him.' The brother would have talked about how she would owe him, all while making fat butt jokes. The caregiver threw the sticky smelly mess into the recycler, using the already-soiled garments to wipe up the excrement on her body. He checked her mouth, and was thankful that she had not tried to eat some, as she had the previous night. Hellguard had been a world of eating what one could find, when she was small and feral.
A sonic shower cleared the main residue from her body. But her stench was awful. Filling the tub with hot sudsy water, he cleaned every last centimeter of her, and relaxed each of her muscles in turn. Happily, she did not come in the water when he cleaned her lower body. He had learned to take care not to massage any one area there for too long.
She stared at him a few times, uncomprehending of why this had to be done. When she did that, he playfully dunked her head. Still unsteady, she needed him to dry and powder her. His control fading, he was happy when she donned her nightgown without his help. As he left her room to go, he heard a garbled, but unmistakable word.
"Stay?"
Putting himself above the covers, Peter stayed with his Saavik, nervous as her sleeping hands clamped around his chest, thankful to God above that he once again had someone who needed him. Someone he could take care of--and who would take care of him.
But Peter's shattered nerves were not yet repaired--and Saavik's Pon Farr would only get worse. A time of decision was approaching.
----------------------------------------
PLANET Q'ONOS
Captain Kruge looked at his faithful crew. Contempt was both massive and mutual.
"If Ambassador Spock is not removed as The Federation's tool here in The Empire, Gorkon will sign away everything that makes us truly Klingon. But as fate would have it one mere snip of a Vulcan girl will give new birth to the Klingon Empire by way of her untimely death. Her name is Saavik. She is Spock's own daughter. Grief will accomplish what all our stealth could not. Our target is nothing less than Vulcan itself!"
------------------------
She came onto the patio wearing just a robe. Peter looked up from his meditation and saw immediately what she had done.
"Saavik--you dyed your hair?"
The way they had both been acting, it was hard to distinguish simple, normal decisions from those made in anxiety. One thing was true, though - Saavik was now a blonde.
"Indeed. I am pleased that you noticed, Peter. I used Amanda's dye. In fact--I dyed all my hair."Her tone was joyful, but measured. With her--that didn't necessarily mean anything. To coin a phrase, both of them had personalities that could go from Impulse to Warp 8 in 3 minutes. It was probably why they had lasted so long together. It might also eventually cause them to kill one another.
"I can see that you dyed all your hair, Saavik. I prefer you as a brunette, but this is nice, too."
She was giggling, and he saw her untie her robe. She could be quite Vulcan in public, but alone together with him, she was free to do as she wished. Naked now, she pointed towards her crotch area.
"Peter-Kam, I said I dyed all my hair, and I meant it."
Peter winced a little at what he did see.
"Saavik-kam, I have to tell you something."
Despite their sexual familiarity and extensive knowledge of each others' bodies, he never stopped wanting her, especially at times like this. His recent distance could not change that. Still, there was a problem.
"What do you have to tell me? That the mere sight of me now has you upset? Just last night, you bathed me when I had that-accident."
Despite his fear, he took her hand.
"Saavik---please look at yourself in the mirrored surface of the patio door."
He walked with her as she stood in front of that door. He grabbed her shoulders as she saw, and began to shake.
"What--have I done?"
Her pubic region was bare. Small, curly blond hairs were in the folds of her robe. Peter tried to comfort her.
"Remember, Sis--Amanda's dye is only to be used for fine hairs—not coarse ones. Its an honest mistake--and it'll grow back."
Her eyes showed that she felt like a fool.
"I did it for you. I had hoped if I made myself more attractive, it would diminish your fears of intimacy."
Peter Kirk shifted nervously.
"I couldn't possibly find you more attractive than I already do--And I do not have a fear of intimacy!"
Saavik closed her eyes, and breathed in.
"Peter--when Uncle Jim played peekaboo that one time at dinner – you mistook it for an attack. During our melds, you always hold back. Even now, you fear that I will attack you. You still, on occasion, walk around with your hand balled into a fist."
He was quietly defiant.
"We have attacked each other, you know. I raped you. The thing I refused to do to that animal, Admiral Bunson--I did to my best friend."
She re-robed, and then tenderly touched his cheek."You forget, as always--I raped you first. Yours was in retaliation for mine. And as to that witch--your refusal to revenge yourself was the rebirth of my own soul."
Peter surprised her and himself with his next comment.
"What I did to you was worse. Its different when a woman rapes a man."
She shook her head.
"That is the most contemptibly ignorant thing I have ever heard you say. You cannot believe that. How is it different?"
At a loss for an explanation, he just shrugged.
"It--just is."
Her eyebrow raised.
"Peter--were you immobile when I took you?"
"Yes, but---"
"Your 'Yes' is sufficient. Was it your choice to be taken in that manner?"
He looked crestfallen.
"No."
"Except for an infinitesimal amount of pleasure which bled through the pain, did you enjoy what I did?"
"No."
"Did you feel betrayed? Humiliated?"
The look in his eyes almost had her regretting the question.
"Yes."
"Then, Peter--I raped you--and it was no different for my lack of a penis. It was about hate and power--just as it was when you bound me and took me from behind, afterwards. It was The Worst Of All Nights. But we survived. Still, I have my overly dependent nature--and you have your fear of intimacy. I need because life has taught me to need, that I might not be alone. You fear because life has taught you that you may not trust anyone-- especially women."
He pulled away from her.
"That's a pretty sweeping statement, Saavik. Not to mention dismissive."
She used a level of logic and calm she ordinarily did not show. In an odd way, this, too, was a result of her comfort around him.
"Your mother was no mother. She left all the housework to you, not to mention the care of your infant brother. She then died. Nyota Uhura, your first real crush, has had a long and obvious sexual relationship with the father who could not stop your sexual violation. Your grandmother attempted to beat you into submission. She reformed, and became dear to you. Then, she was murdered--and also could not prevent what came next. You have destroyed at least four women who crossed you. Mary, who died on Deneva when she went insane and attacked you. Madely, who betrayed you to the Order. T'Pring, who plotted your kidnapping. Valeris---split in two with a sharp implement--how phallic. Under the influence of T'Pring's insidious device, Amanda herself made a pass at you."
Peter was angry, and his heart was racing. His face was beet-red.
"Anything Else?"
"Indeed. I have one last piece of evidence that demonstrates your insanity beyond all doubts. It proves you have a fear of intimacy."
"Go ahead."
She took his right hand, and held it tight.
"You put up with me. Only a madman who never wants true intimacy would tolerate the way I treat you."
The moment was too tender for anything other than the very boldest action possible. He looked into her eyes.
"I was going to do this after your Pon Farr. But I have been waiting to say this since the first moment I saw you, when you broke the seal on that cryostasis coffin Cartwright stuck me in."
To her utter shock, Peter dropped to one knee. Her Terran Culture class told her what was to follow. She just couldn't believe it was happening.
"Saavik Brianna Kirk--Will You Marry Me?"
Her heart jumped. This was the fulfillment of her dream, as well. The one she loved best had just asked her to spend eternity with him. It was the happiest moment in her life, up to that point. She pulled him up to his feet, and socked him square in the nose.
"Ours is a sexual contract, Peter-- nothing more!!! How dare you violate it with fantastic romantic notions that we both know to be delusions?! You have ruined this tender moment!"
Peter got up, and felt the blood coming from his nose. He looked at Saavik.
"No--no, I didn't ruin this tender moment, Saavik."
Before she could react, he returned the blow, sending her sprawling and unconscious.
"NOW--I ruined the moment."
He hadn't meant to hit her so hard. But she had to be taught not to hit him--plus he was enraged at her reaction to his proposal. There was something else wrong, too. He felt as though he, too, were approaching an 'Amok Time'. Which is exactly what he was doing, due to an unspoken part of his heritage. Slowly, Saavik stirred. Her nose was not broken, but it was bloodied.
She heard him go inside.
"I told you you were insane. Please don't ever become sane."
Somehow, she would make this up to him--after getting him back for the punch. Not knowing that hers was an inbred conception, Saavik could not understand her frequent instability. She only hoped that she and Peter could survive it long enough for him to propose again.
----------------------------------------
THE KLINGON CRUISER, B'RGON
Cloaked and inside Federation space, Kruge had explained the plan.
"An EM-pulse will reduce all tech in the Vulcan sector to slag. Isolated, the girl, whom Romulan members of The Order reliably inform me is Ambassador Spock's own daughter, will die from the onset of Pon Farr. Her only companion is a human non-entity named Richard Grayson who will either be unable to help her or die attempting to bond, since even few Vulcans can survive an undirected Pon Farr Mating. After her death--Spock will leave for a period of mourning. The forces opposed to Gorkon will then end this 'Restructuring', which tears the privates off of every good Klingon male."
In fact, 'Richard Grayson' was merely a nom de guerre for Peter Kirk, whom much of the galaxy thought had died in 2268. Most believed the young man to be a male relative of Lady Amanda's.
"Now, you here have heard of those who objected to my plan. Let the peace go forward, the fools said. Terrorism is now a thing without honor, since 'times have changed'. Should we, as many weaklings in the Empire now bleat, fight only the Romulans, traitorous dogs that they are? Some have told me that we should kill the Vulcan girl ourselves, to her face. That to deny her the glory of battle is to disgrace us before Kahless. I have heard the words of those who said it was better to do this thing on a small scale, to get the same result. Economy of movement, I believe they called it. It is said b others that we should seek reassignment, and exploit the trade routes in this new era. That this all presents opportunities that we were missing out on."
Blasters in hand, Kruge killed half of his audience without blinking.
"I SAY THAT WE ARE KLINGONS!"
Lieutenant Klueie thanked his Captain for the rousing speech, and left. Checking for spies or bugs later, the Security Officer spoke out loud. "Our Captain is one nacelle short of a warp drive."
-----------------------------------------
VULCAN
With apologies exchanged--again, Saavik decided to prepare lunch for herself and Peter. While he studied, she tapped him on the shoulder to ask him what he wanted.
"Peter, I....."
Guided by an overactive battle instinct, he backhanded her as she approached. Only belatedly did he think to ask.
"Saavik, is that...."
She pushed his face into the desk in front of him.
"I am tired of your nerves. Damned tired."
He shrugged, defensively.
"Hey! I've told you repeatedly not to sneak up on me."
He saw that she was sitting down, shaking.
"I cannot abide your whining now, Peter. Call Sro T'Nia. My time has come."
Understanding and actually grateful that this would soon be done, he picked up the comm-link. At that same moment, a large electrical arc surged through Peter Kirk, knocking him silly.
All over The Greater Vulcan Sector, similar disasters and others of a far worse kind also occurred. On his ship, a Klingon terrorist smiled. "Q'apla!"
---------------------------------------
On Vulcan, Saavik smelled burnt flesh, and saw that Peter was not moving. She herself could not move at all.
"Peter? Peter? Peter? PETER?!!!!!"
For the second time in his life, Peter Kirk lay near death while the one he loved best wasted away, calling his name. His eyes burned and blurry, and his tongue coated, tasting of carbon, he dragged himself over to Saavik's position.
"I let Marc die. I can't let you die. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough before this."
Pushing himself up next to her, Peter used his working hand to push her hand to his forehead. Immediately, they felt each other's very deepest thoughts.
"Our souls, Saavik-kam, are one. The animal passions are yielded to, in this place. I am thy vessel, we are as..."
She fought him, and fought this dream come true as she always had. Soon, she would even know why she had fought.
"Peter--Don't. Even as strong as you are, you cannot survive this. ILove You--I would not be the cause of your death. Withdraw, before it is too late."
The blood fever within him spoke to Peter from deserts had never walked in. Resolving not let her go this time, he held Saavik's hand firmly where it was, and the bond continued.
"I Love You. And it was already too late on the day we met. I wanted to marry you and make love to you, even then."
Plak Tow.
------------------------------------
As Sam Kirk woke her for the day, Saavik felt extremely annoyed at the father she knew wasn't hers. He plodded back to bed, and a quick glance saw him raising the sheets and taking a delighted Aurelan. Life on Deneva was good for the grownups. First, she washed the dishes. Then, sanitized the kitchen and bathroom. The laundry was a snap, as she only went for cleanliness and not spotlessness. Then, it was 5 AM. Time for the one chore she really didn't mind too much. Walking back into her room, she scooped up a cooing bundle. Saavik smiled at her little brother.
"Hey, Marc. How's my baby?"
She caught a whiff."In need of changing, that's how you are."
In a flash, the new garment was fastened and the old one composted, which reminded her to water the vegetables before she went to school. Aurelan always forgot. Her eyes darted to a calendar, and a date two months off. The day Uncle Jim would visit.
"That'll be around Thanksgiving, Marc. We'll go aboard The Enterprise. It'll be real fun--hey!!"
She took out a bottle, heated it and fed the infant who had tried to feed off her chest.
"That's mine, little guy--not yours."Feeling life was just about as perfect as it could be, despite parents-that-weren't, she turned on the news-line.
*The Travellers landed in their odd craft, begging we on Deneva to quote 'forgive them'. Since the craft, its occupants, and the inspection crew are all under quarantine, we have no way of knowing why they would say such a thing.*
Saavik felt an ominous tinge, as though the world was coming to an end. It was.
"Don't worry, Marc. I won't ever let anything happen to you."
----------------------------------------
Peter saw the oversized girl fall. She should never have picked a fight with him, no matter how odd he looked. Now, he took her loincloth and covered his nakedness. Without it, the guards would pick her more often."Take meat, too."
He delighted as he devoured her food stores, which she had plundered from littler ones whose necks she had broken.
"You not so tough. I tougherer."
He thought he heard a guard. But they were nowhere to be found. Daring to venture out, he was grabbed by the current camp Commander, the one who had replaced his mother.
"I'm finished. But so are you, animal. I'm going to take my manhood and rip a hole through you, at each end."
A voice came from behind him. Peter could not understand the words, but the man sounded important.
"Why don't you try and take me, instead?"
The new warrior beat the living shit out of the Commander, and Peter smiled to see this. As the Romulan fell, Peter scraped his wrist, scarring it.
"Now I poke hole in you, not you me!"
The man who had beaten the Commander smiled at the boy.
"I wish you understood Federation Standard, kiddo. I am Captain James T. Kirk. We are here to----"
But the boy looked past and saw another man, in a blue tunic. His young heart raced. For this man was the fulfillment of all dreams and hopes. He ran straight at him, shouting joyfully.
"SRI! Sri! Sri."
The word was best translated as 'Daddy'.
Spock looked down at the excited little creature and spoke in Vulcan.
"Little One--I have returned for you, as I promised. But I do not know you."
The boy cried as Spock handed him off to his Captain.
"Jim--this child is in pain. My psychic shields cannot drown it out. Will you hold him, til I am ready to perform a meld?"
Though Kirk's touch was loving and welcomed, still the boy was in pain. Didn't Spock understand that it was for him he had endured The Hellguard? Now, for that loving presence that touched him so early on to come back claiming to not know him--it was worse than any rape. For that pain eventually ended. Jim held the sobbing Peter.
"Don't worry. I won't permit anyone to hurt you, ever again."
The boy would improve. But he would always wonder what he had done to drive Spock away, even after forgetting that he was his father.
---------------------------------------------
Saavik tried to duck, but the ancient frying pan struck true every time. Its wielder was far too experienced. Brianna Kirk knew how to beat a child.
"Now, WHY weren't your chores done?"
She looked up through eyes tinted by red, and stung by salt.
"Grandma, they were."
"Then why is there dirt on the floor?"
Despite a sprained wrist and shattered ankle, she stood up, and spit in Brianna's eye.
"Because you put it there, like always. Because you get off by hitting me."
What happened next was a very painful blur, characterized by iron and blood.
-----------------------
Peter stared at the failing grade he knew he did not deserve.
"Teacher, in what way did my completed assignment fail to meet the required standards?"
The man never looked at him as he spoke.
"If you cannot be bothered to know what those standards are, I can ill afford to be bothered informing you of your numerous errors."
The conversation was circular, and Peter was always wrong. So he took a look at his file-disk, and finally noted something.
"It is unaccessed. You have failed to even read it."
The arrogant man finally looked up.
"Should I? Would I find anything of worth or value if I did?"
Peter walked behind the teacher's desk, and took his certification notice off the wall. As the barely-tenured bigot looked on in horror, Peter tossed it into the recycler. The boy nodded.
"Many documents are without value."
---------------------------------
The memories continued, for both of them. Their entire lives played out, many thousands of times, from perspectives undreamed of. Saavik felt herself fill up with his worship of her. Peter felt a completion and redemption at knowing that she loved him as deeply as he loved her."What happens now?"
She winced.
"Now, Peter--the emotions. The raw, unshielded emotions that all Vulcans hide. Even I, my love, keep so much back. You must face it all--alone for now."
In his mind, Peter saw a red tide come at him. It boiled with every thought that Vulcans never allowed to take root. It was like acid to a baby's flesh. It was as large as all eternity. Things swam beneath its surface.
It passed over Peter without harming him in the slightest. A stunned Saavik saw him awake, refreshed as ever.
"That is impossible. I felt fear merely contemplating that thing. Peter--how can you do that?"
He smiled.
"All that horrible awful stuff is you, Saavik. I've known you at your worst, remember? Now especially that I've lived your life--you don't frighten me. When I was twelve, and angry at everyone--you would have. But that lost little lamb is gone. He didn't die--he just grew a mane and claws."
She smiled.
"Then it is done. For I need fear nothing from human emotions, open as they are."
Now Peter frowned.
"I'm sorry, Saavik. But one more door in me has to be opened. Be brave, my love."
His eyes began to glow. Sarek had always kept that aspect of Peter's abilities quiet. Saavik gasped. For her eyes, she knew, were following suit.
"What have you done to me, Peter?"
In his mind, Peter Kirk threw a switch and opened the floodgates.
"Saavik, until now you believed that I contained within me a dry record of Ghidorah's activities. But I carry living memories of the countless fallen. If we are to be one--you must survive what you see here."
Saavik saw a planet with new life erased, a scant billion years after the universe formed. She saw what erased it, and experienced each life and death as her own. She grabbed Peter's hand, but could not feel it.
"Behold, The Ancient Destroyer!"
As an exhausted Peter held her, Saavik screamed the sounds of the damned. Many countless nonillions of damned. For in formally bonding with her beloved adopted brother, she took on her predestined responsibilities as The Rock. And The Rock must always know why it fights. The Line Of Blood was that constant reminder. Saavik had always thought it like a dark computer bank, filled with vile but necessary information. She now realized how wrong she was, and in her pain, her love for her heroic friend grew exponentially. In a flash, she realized why he screamed at night, even when his dreams were not of his rape. How he functioned at all was beyond her.
"Hold me, Peter."
"I am."
"I cannot feel you. I cannot feel anything of myself. I wish I were a better Vulcan. Even a better Romulan. I am nothing."
"Stop it. Saavik, we're both in pain, now, and I can't afford to guide you through your maze of self-pity and shattered self-confidence. You talked of my weaknesses. My fear of intimacy. My mistrust of women. Now hear yours. You are casually violent. You enjoy hitting me, and are upset when I don't thank you for it. You turn on me with no notice, or reason. Worst of all--you keep thinking that we are not equals. Well, I'm through being your parent, Saavik-kam. If you are to be my wife, you must learn to stand on your two legs--without me."
His harsh words done, he pulled back from her, and she felt this. Her physical senses were all blurs.
"Peter--do not leave me--you promised you would never leave me--you are just like him--like all of them! My father, whoever he was. Spock, unable to bear the sight of Vulcan's shame. James, who tried his best, but always left me for his two women--one silver, one black. Sarek, who has been there most often, but who always seeks the comfort of his office."
Saavik felt the memories begin to consume her.
"I--have--loved---you--all."
---------------------------------------
Q'ONOS, UFP AMBASSADOR SPOCK'S OFFICE
Spock looked up.
"I am told that you wish to speak with me, Captain Kruge."
The Klingon fought down a smile. He always relished telling an enemy to his face that a family member had met with an accident--so to speak. "Yes, Ambassador. I have come to offer the services of my ship, to take you back to Vulcan."
Spock shook his head, as though in confusion.
"Captain, I am not at this time headed for Vulcan, or any other Federation world. While your offer is appreciated, it is also quite unnecessary."
Kruge sought to shake the Vulcan out of his calm.
"But what of the disaster? The E-M Pulse from that quasar has hurt so very, very many--innocents. What of your family?"
There were six individuals who knew exactly how to shake Spock up. But Kruge was not Sarek, Amanda, Jim, McCoy, Saavik or Peter. His chances were therefore greatly lessened.
"Fortunately, my mother and father were offworld when this pulse struck, Captain. My great-grandmother, T'Pau, dwells in shielded temples. My family is unharmed."
Kruge played his trump.
"But what of your daughter, who did not travel with your parents, sir? Surely, young Saavik is trapped alone. Suppose some medical condition were to arise suddenly--leaving her close to death?"
Spock shrugged.
"Then, Saavik would die. Also, Captain-I am not her father. My close friend, Captain James Kirk, is her adoptive father. While I care for them both, I cannot abandon my post until I learn her fate, for good or for ill."
Kruge saw no crack in Spock's facial armor, and so pressed a different attack.
"I have heard it said that a young human dwells in your father's house. What of his fate? Your mother's nephew, a Richard Grayson?"
Spock went back to his work, but continued speaking.
"Richard Grayson does not exist, Captain. The young man is not my mother's nephew, but that of my friend Jim, who adopted him upon the death of his parents. He is in reality, Peter Kirk, assumed dead in 2268. He will care for Saavik, as I am reliably told he often does."
Kruge winced. Kirk's kin was involved? If the boy had one-tenth of his uncle's troublemaking skills, Kruge's plan could easily fall into ruin. As he withdrew, Kruge fired off yet another useless verbal shot.
"Yes--I'm sure he will take care of her, as you say. And I know he will not take advantage of her."
Spock again looked up.
"That is not a concern, Captain. They have been lovers for some time, now. My mother, The Lady Amanda, has spoken to me just recently on their all-around fervor and enjoyment of all forms of sex."
Since that was a great deal more than Kruge had wished to know about, he withdrew at that time, and sat down outside til his head cleared. He then made plans to finish what he had started.
------------------------------------------
ALPHA CENTAURI TZNYD HILTON, ALPHA CENTAURI FIVE
"What do you mean, no rescue ships? How can a disaster of this magnitude occur without a massive response from Starfleet?"
The UFP President was sympathetic, but could offer nothing.
"Madame Ambassador, The Vulcan Sector is still flooded with E-M radiation of a massive scale. Even a Constitution - Class ship could not make it through all that, for it would eventually have to drop shields. We are working on ways to disperse it--but for now Vulcan is isolated, and alone. CE's Office out."
The Betazed Ambassador turned to her longtime friend, Amanda Grayson.
"Makes me wish these damned diplomatic duties didn't always fall to The Fifth House, Amanda. It always reminds me of how little diplomacy can truly accomplish, once things have gone really wrong. You are related to both those children, aren't you?"
Amanda nodded, grateful for her friend's efforts, however little they netted.
"Saavik is my granddaughter. Peter is my cousin, though he doesn't know that I'm of his Line. My sister forbid me to tell him. Such sweet, tortured children. Fate conspires to put them through so much."
The Ambassador closed her eyes.
"Gods, I can feel them from here. They must be prophetic beings, of some kinds. I hate prophecies. They're so rarely about anything good."
Amanda stared out the window.
"Tamana, I study the night sky of Vulcan as a hobby. I find it impossible to believe that that quasar just gave off a pulse like that."
Sarek's voice was now heard.
"That, wife, is because it did not. Madame Ambassador, may I and my guest enter?"
"Sarek, just come on in. Man's not even dead, but he's still a big stiff."
Sarek did indeed enter, then, as did his guest, who spoke immediately.
"We've uncovered evidence that this pulse was a terrorist attack, planned by a literally renegade Klingon. Also, Amanda, we're going to find a way to Vulcan-and get to those kids of mine. I need to know that they're all right."
Amanda smiled.
"I know you will, Jim. You and The Enterprise."
Tamana Dartellum walked up to Kirk.
"Is it true that you punched out the Mogueran Ambassador?"
Not wishing to offend a telepath, Jim nodded.
"Yes, Madame Ambasador, it is true."
"Good. I never liked him."
She sensed his stray thought.
"Who the devil is Christine Chapel?"
---------------------------------------VULCAN, HEALERS STATION ALERT MEDICAL
Barely keeping her emotions in check and not really trying to, Healer T'Nia shouted out orders.
"Cases that are unconscious first! Any tech-dependents, such as one with an artificial heart, liver, or spinal column fragment--are to be regarded as already dead."
Healer Soreth grasped a light lirpa, dreading what he must do next.
"Forgiveness, Professor. But your arm is far too mangled, and you may bleed to death otherwise."
The arm came off its shoulder, and fire was used to seal the wound.
"Mother, are there no other surgeons?"
"No, Soreth. We are alone."
Then, like whirlwinds, two humans, male and female, burst in.
"I'm Ben Potter, and this is my wife, Maggie. We're surgeons, from Earth. Where and who?"
T'Nia gave a directionless nod.
"Everywhere, and everyone. Just do what you must. How much surgical experience do you have?"
The blonde woman known as Maggie Potter answered.
"We've been doing this since The Korea---since The Koridian War."
Soreth nodded.
"Mother, if they may help us, I will supervise Satlen's work."
The tall, dark-haired, acquline-nosed man called Ben Potter asked a question while skillfully binding up energy scars.
"Why does this Satlen need supervision?"
T'Nia was grateful that the newcomers were quite gifted and knowledgeable of Vulcan physiology.
"He is our least competent medic. A snob, a bully, and hard to tolerate. He hides his latent decency behind much pain."
Ben Potter smiled.
"Every war's gotta have one."
The man and woman once known as Pierce and Houlihan then got down to the grim task of healing in a war zone. Patients Zero in the long-ago Eugenics War had seen too much of this duty, for over three-hundred years, and the Apocalypse was yet to come.
-----------------------------------
HOUSE OF SAREK
Saavik was drowning in memory, all of it bitter myrrh.
"No, we have prayed and sacrificed the younglings! Why does Ghidorah still come?"
"So, Ghidorah, you think you've won? Let Frieza show you differeaaaargggghhh!!!"
"So, if we choose not to believe in Ghidorah, he will simply vanish and go aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!"
"What does the computer say?"
"That we need a bigger computer."
"Did the superweapon work? Is Ghidorah destroyed?"
"No. Merely our home sector."
"Resistance to Species Zero is Futile."
"Greetings, Brother. Have you come to free me from my eternal prison, here at Galaxy's center?"
"He's broken the blazing sword!"
"The Founders...are not Gods?"
"Be well, Sarek, my son."
"This is George Samuel Kirk, last survivor of The USS Constitution, signing off...from here, Jim--it looks like the end of the Universe!"
"Pike to Enterprise! Pike To Enterprise! The old legends are true, I repeat, The Old Legends Of...."
"I forgive you, Kirk. Would you believe those words, coming from your old friend Khan?"
"I am not afraid of you or your androids, Roger, nor the evil you serve.....Yea, though I walk through the Valley..."
When the most recent memories had in effect, spooled through, Saavik gently put her hands on Peter's shoulders.
"Darling, are you all right? It has been almost a full day, and I..."
Peter realized too late that her hands were now on the top of his head, and on his chin as well. Weeping, she twisted both, and a sickening snap was heard. Peter's lifeless body fell before her.
"Damn you, Mother. I have done as you commanded. I have destroyed The Rock."
She carefully positioned her hands around her own head."I have always loved you, Peter Kirk. I always will."
Saavik snapped her own neck, and joined her Peter in death. Her mother's voice assaulted her. Surely, she was in hell. Without Peter, all was hell to her.
"Saavik, you have done well. Because of you, no one can now oppose Lord Ghidorah, when he comes."
It was indeed the shade of the vicious Commander Linviaj, Saavik's mother, from whom Captain Kirk later stole the cloaking device. Saavik moved to strangle the apparition, but she could not.
"Oh, Child...you may not move against me, any more than you could resist killing your human sextoy. Though he did have a large endowment, I must concede."
Saavik looked up.
"You would know about such things, Commander Linviaj. A large member would certainly know what another looks like."
As expected, Saavik felt a boot strike her head.
"You--will address me as Mother. I gave you life, and a destiny. Or do you weep for your fallen Rock still?"
Despite another kick, Saavik got up.
"You are not my mother. Nyota Uhura, who sends me letters of love and encouragement, is my mother. Amanda, who has cared for me and taught me to partake of her own quiet strength, is my mother. Even my Peter, who never once turned me away entirely, and who heard my pain always, and who loved me enough to force me to face my pain alone, is more of a mother to me than you, despite our physicality. But after all, he fought fiercely to save the little brother he called his baby. You left yours in Hell."
This time, Saavik blocked the blow. Linviaj was furious.
"Idiot half-breed! That place of violations forged your soul. Gave you that strength the boy Rock loved so well. Oh, what a pathetic pair you were. Were it not for my katra, urging you on since you were six, you two would never even have attempted to mate. I almost caused you to destroy him, that one time."
"NO! It was that voice--your voice, Commander Linviaj--that ate away at my self-worth. You were an unseen ally to those that sought to torment me. You compelled me to kill my Peter. I will destroy you for that. Mark me."
The katra-image smiled.
"How? Both you and the boy are dead."
A voice from behind the worthless Ghidoran startled her.
"Sometimes, Linviaj, I wish I could die. But I can't. Neither can my wife."
Linviaj saw that Peter Kirk was alive. Now, she realized, so was Saavik. Peter pointed.
"You see, you rotten excuse for an incubator? Linviaj, we are not the lost lambs The Order sheared and fucked for their pleasure, so long ago. Behold, we are now like Lions--and Lions have claws."
Linviaj shuddered, and felt herself torn loose from Saavik's soul, which she had inhabited since Spock killed her. Her own mother, the Romulan master spy T'Rea, now felt her bastard granddaughter's rage on distant Romulus. The woman who had married Sarek under false pretenses and bore both Sybok and Linviaj to suit her purposes heard Peter's voice in her mind before she was incinerated from afar. The T'al Sh'ar's main compound was wiped away, as though it had never been.
"You were warned."
Back on wounded Vulcan, the two who had overcome so much now looked into each others eyes. They spoke as one.
"We Are The Rock Of Prophecy, and it is we who will shatter the teeth that have gnashed apart whole galaxies."
Peter smiled. Their love had proven stronger than any schemer. Of course, a little telepathic chicanery didn't hurt.
"Saavik-kam, Wife. Now What?"
She grinned.
"Peter-Kam, Husband. Now we do three things, in reverse order."
"Those three things are?"
"Live Happily Ever After, Destroy The Great Enemy-"
They snapped back to physicality, where she tore his clothes off, and he hers. Saavik slid on top of Peter, and neither felt any fear this time. For they were well and truly one. Saavik completed her earlier sentence.
"-And Rut Like Animals, Til Blood Loss Makes Continuing Impossible."
The motion was furious, and mutual. There would be no freezing up on this day.
Plak Tow.
----------------------
As Peter went to remove his pants, Saavik stopped him. Opening her mouth like a shark, she reached down her head and tore out the crotch of his pants with her teeth. She held it up in front of him, like a fresh kill. As his personhood dangled free of restraints, he went her one better.
"Did I mention that I'm a telekinetic?"
She yelped in pleasure as her uniform burst off her like popcorn. He suspended her in mid-air, and kept them both airborne. Slowly, after entry, he began to spin them together.
"Peter?"
"Saavik?"
"This spinning is making me sick."
They landed on the kitchen carpet, and he withdrew.
"I'll let your stomach settle for a minute."
She grabbed and guided him back in, and then wrapped her legs around, up the length of his lower back.
"Withdraw again, bondmate, and I will forcibly divest you of the difference."
He fell back, laughing. He didn't need to distract himself. The demons were gone from his head, perhaps for the first time ever. Through the bond, she drowned them all out. She was his world.
"Sorry, Maam. Won't happen again."
Before the tempest, they kissed one more time.
"Husband."
"Wife."
They were mundane words. But, after all, mundane means 'Of The World'. And on that mighty planet, ripped wide by an E-M pulse, the world was defined by about 300 pounds of joined flesh. The Children Of The Enterprise were happy beyond their dreams---and they had yet to really start.
After a quick ten minutes on top of him, Saavik felt a climax so simultaneous, it may as well have been the same microsecond. She was still absolutely shocked at the image Peter held of her. The awkward young woman saw herself now as a primal warrior-queen.
Looking up, Peter felt nothing as much as he did her love for and attraction to her, now fulfilled. Once, as a boy visiting Bethlehem, he had a dream of himself as an angel, defending The ChristChild from a marauding demon named Kronos, in service to Herod. But it was as an angel that Saavik saw him.
The battered warrior-queen had found and released and a captive angel. By law, he was hers. But he had given her soul back to her, and earned her servitude as a result. Both could thus have their freedom as a result of this exchange. But it was a freedom neither wanted. What they wanted they now had.
His face was buried in her delta, nibbling with his lips at the redness as he worked his end of an old bargain. He tried to vary his technique, using his nose, chin, and even his ears where he could. The tongue he reserved as a kind of bonus round, but would trace every centimeter of that region before actually entering the opening. An hour or two into this, she pulled gently at his ears.
"Peter---aaahhh---you have no idea what you're doing."
Confused, he looked up at her.
"If I have no idea what I'm doing, then why don't you tell me to stop?"
Annoyed, she pushed him back down and held him firmly til he resumed.
"Because, Husband, I enjoy the way in which you learn. Besides which, if you did know what you were doing--I would be forced to wonder where you learned it."
After an awkward but playful session that left her behind feeling more than somewhat raw, Saavik collapsed onto her back, her head rolling in time to miss, and then kiss, Peter's face. He made his move.
"Saavik, I Love You."
"That is no secret. We have been saying that since the night of our first long conversation. Then again on the day I first allowed you to watch me shower, as you pleasured. Then on the night you made me feel again. But I will I say it again, and again and again til long past either we or Ghidorah lie dead at Meggido. Peter, I Love You."
He nodded.
"No qualifiers, now. I don't sort-of-love you, or sibling-love you, or friend-love you, though all those are true. Three simple words, Saavik, with all the ups and downs and risks and opportunities bound up therein. I Love You."
She kissed him again, and stroked his hair as she turned over.
"My Husband speaks for me in this matter. He is almost as good with words as he is in bed."
He smiled, and looked around.
"Bed? What bed? When did I see a bed?"
Her face showed a hint of a frown.
"Peter, has this been a good Pon Farr?"
"I don't know. I don't have anything to compare it to. But I know what you mean. Aren't we supposed to be animals, not acrobats? Bloody messes trying to dominate, not play with each other? I thought that if it ever happened, we'd be volcanoes letting out lava. This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I'm not even remotely let down. But I was so scared of what we'd do to each other, when all we've done is let off steam. Beautiful, joyful steam, mind you--but I've never felt in any danger from you. This is Plak Tow, right?"
She considered his very logical words, and found the fact that either of them were capable of rational thought surprising as well. After all, hadn't Spock nearly killed his thy'la, during The Amok Time? Yet Peter was right. All that had really happened was the vanishing of their fear, and the letting off of steam. Then it hit her, all at once.
"Steam, Peter-Kam. Steam, and fear."
"I feel through the bond that you have the answer, honey, but I don't follow your words."
She felt him slip inside her again, but they did not move at that time.
"It is so simple. Peter, I must believe that most couples on Vulcan do not have our sort of relationship, obvious though that sounds."
He put his head back on the carpet, and stared directly into her eyes.
"Go on."
"Well, don't you see it? They live in blind fear of emotion. Sex certainly contains emotion. Combine that with the fact that I have always accepted that my Cthia is less than ideal, and my fear of failure or slippage is as vanished as our clothing."
He understood.
"Then all the groping we've been doing, all the sucking, and attempts, helped set us up for the past-however long we've been at this? Oh, God, Saavik-even our worst moment, when we raped one another that night, helped calm our fears. Or when you clenched your teeth on me at the wrong moment.."
She continued.
"Or when, in the dark, you thought certain that the side of my legs was the area between them. I was so mortified. But we came to this moment ready for all the nonsense, and all the possibility of hurt. Peter, most Vulcans must enter this thing terrified of their minds, their bodies, perhaps even their souls. But we-it is as though we were already bonded, and all this was merely a formality."
He smiled up at her.
"Most Logical, My Wife."
"Great Thanks, My Husband."
She returned the stare into his eyes. Then something odd began to occur.First, the perspective was their own. But as the eyes truly met, the perspective suddenly shifted, and they were each staring at themselves through the other's eyes. This was alluring for about thirty seconds. But then the perspective mutated and became that of them looking through their own eyes at the other looking through their own eyes. It further shifted and mutated, and now they were looking through the other's eyes at the bond, which viewed them both and was viewed by each in turn, simultaneously through their own and the other's eyes. By the fourteenth shift, they collapsed and felt ill.
Peter regained himself.
"What the hell was that?"
Saavik lay flat on her back next to him, unable to move a muscle.
"Apparently, we have stumbled onto some kind of advanced technique, not unlike Earth's Tantra. Powerful, no doubt, when used correctly."
Peter found movement difficult, as well. But he soon jumped her anew, and was later jumped in turn.
They were young, in love, and married at long last. Conspirators and dragons and dupes and fools had all failed miserably.
Peter and Saavik were happy.
JUST OUTSIDE THE DISASTER ZONE, VULCAN SECTOR, 2283Kruge reviewed his men.
"Our enhanced shields will allow us to break through the E-M pulse's aftereffects. You seven will beam down to Ambassador Sarek's small house and kill Kirk's adopted children. I--will not be thwarted by this unknown boy!"
It was so unfair, Kruge thought. His plan had been so simple, so perfect. The girl, Saavik, would die alone of Pon Farr while Vulcan sector writhed in the grip of a tech -destroying Electro-Magnetic Pulse. Ambassador Spock, secretly her father, would have to withdraw to mourn her and attend her funeral. While he was away, Kruge and his allies would move against weak-willed Gorkon, traitor to all that was Klingon.
But Kirk had ruined this plan. Worse, it wasn't even The Kirk. Just an idiot nephew, long in love with the girl. Best evidence had them surely bonded by now. Worse, Kruge hadn't realized how well and redundantly Vulcan protected its water supply. While his actions still led to a disaster, it was not of the hoped-for magnitude. It was getting so that being a terrorist almost wasn't worth it. Since he needed a much smaller, reliably silent crew for this second mission, Kruge beamed the seven warriors away, using the jury-rigged transporters. They were not to return without the children's heads in tow. At least that had been the plan.
"Maltz to Kruge."
The savage, somewhat insane Captain smiled. Q'apla. But Maltz did not sound happy.
"We have been found out. Starfleet has found a way to counter our cloak by matching its frequency. Mission failure."
The lunatic cried out.
"Fool! How could you know such things, down on the surface?"
A voice came from behind Kruge.
"I believe I can explain that."
Kruge's blood turned to ice.
"I'm going to turn around, now. When I do, who will I be addressing?"
The cocky voice answered back.
"Three guesses--first two don't count."
Kruge turned, D'tahk in hand, and stabbed at an empty spot. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and slashed at empty air. Another tap, and he turned around slowly. Sure enough, there was Captain James T. Kirk. Kruge snorted as he again lashed out.
"You dare?!"
Jim did a split he would later regret--but Uhura, applier of salves and lotions, would not. He then pulled back his fist, and nailed Kruge with all his might straight in the balls. The big Klingon shuddered in real pain, just as Kirk caught him in the chin moving up from the same position he had first struck from.
"A lesson to you, Lord Captain Kruge."
Kirk slapped Kruge hard with his opened hand, and the Klingon felt teeth loosen when he did.
"Don't mess with The Federation."
A roundhouse kick slammed Kruge's head.
"Don't--don't mess with The Enterprise."
When Kruge grabbed the smaller man, he felt his hands break and the bones inside them fragment. There was then a popping sound as Kirk took out his knees.
"What is your strength?"
"Whatever it needs to be, Klingon! You moved against a child of the Line. It changes the rules."
They felt a beaming occur, and the prone Kruge was on all fours in front of a brig-cell. The last thing he felt before merciful unconsciousness was the human's boot almost entering his backside, sending him into the now-activated cell. Kirk shook his finger at the broken prisoner.
"Don't--Don't--DON'T EVER mess with my children. Lord Captain Kruge- I-Have-Had-Enough-Of-YOU!"
The other imprisoned Klingons saw this, and stared in wonder. Doctor McCoy shrugged at them.
"That's nothing. You should see Jim when he's really upset."
In meditation, Amanda and Sarek thought of the almost fifteen years raising Saavik, and the five helping Peter to recover from Hell. They had been good years.
In his quarters, Jim prayed.
"Oh, Lord--please just let them be happy. My darling girl and sweet wonderful boy. Wherever they are--let them know only joy, and let them be together."
On Q'onos, Chancellor Gorkon nodded.
"I will regret losing you, Ambassador Spock, even if only for a week. But you shall have use of my personal shuttle. Good fortune to you. I must depart, to attend to Kruge's extradition. Rest assured, his House's power guarantees only his wretched life. Not his position."
Spock left, the message from The Enterprise still ringing inside his pain-wracked head. For his little girl's childhood was over, and he had now missed every minute of it. But if she were not bonded, then there was still a chance. A chance for him to be Saavik's father. At least this was how he saw it through a barrage of pain, betrayal, shame and guilt.
"This bond will not stand."
On Vulcan, a newly bonded couple were rushed to medical care. Cared for by those who had always loved them, they were together as they were meant to be. Sarek and Amanda kept watch in the younger couple's hospital room. Their superior physiologies aside, any bonding denoted a drain on the being. Bonding during Pon Farr was rarely survived without the direction of elders.With his longtime lover, Nyota Uhura, Jim watched the older couple in turn. Even Admiralty Hall had to let Enterprise stay and keep Vulcan's sector safe.
"Jim? What advice do you have for the young marrieds?"
"None. I've never been married."
She gave him a wry look.
"I know."
But as Enterprise sat above them, under the able hand of First Officer Decker, all such concerns took a back seat to planning a much-anticipated formal ceremony.
In T'Navat City, they shopped together for fine clothes. The nearness of the newly bonded gave them strength, despite their common bouts with agoraphobia.
"Will I look good in this?"
"Yes. The jade scarf lends just the right tone. My robe?"
"The family's symbol?"
"I wear it at Sarek's request. He wishes all to know that this is a union within the family, as well as the joining of two great houses."
Their speech in public was almost unbearably formal. But after the last week's wild and wooly sexual marathon, they were almost grateful to simply walk about in the bustling marketplace. Their desire for one another had not abated. But their need to prove they could know real intimacy had vanished entirely. They knew, now. They were young, equally in love, and capable of showing it on any of hundreds of levels. They were bonded.
"Soup, Saavik? The Split Pea has a new faux ham flavoring."
He wanted to grab her, but didn't. She felt this, and was grateful for his restraint.
"No, Peter. The pepper and pasta salad shall suffice for me."
He was truly hers. Silly sex or safe sex, gushing emotions or exchanging polite nods, they were one, and she was content. Maybe for the first time ever.
As they ate slowly and silently, a viper attempted to broach their Edenic state.
"Such finery, Saavik-of-no-House. Its not for you, of course. Such material would be wasted."
Saavik knew the young woman, but chose not to remember her name. She was a background figure, one of those commanded by the late, unlamented T'Pring to continually harass Saavik. The new wife briefly put down her fork.
"How I pity you, who has only these moments, full of hate and venom. But my heart is shielded now, against your barbs. Leave now, for you have no shield against me, and I can strike you down at my whim, with no one the wiser."
The childish woman grew indignant.
"You will not speak to me that way, house-less one."
Peter Kirk looked at the harasser.
"You will not speak to my wife that way, tunic-less one."
The woman shook her head.
"I have a tunic, human."
Rather than denude her and cause a spectacle, Peter merely glowed his eyes at the bigot, and psychokinetically tugged at her tunic's fabric. The prospect caused her to withdraw, and some others Saavik knew dispersed. They finished their meal without incident. Packing their purchases, they entered their small transport, and went back towards Sarek's house.
"Husband?"
"Yes, Wife?"
"I have come to a realization."
Peter felt her pain and rage, at even the brief violation of their peace. It was all so clear, now.
"What realization is that, my wife?"
He saw the tears flow, as she tried and failed to maintain her Vulcan control.
"Peter--I have no place here. Vulcan is truly not my world, if I cannot enjoy a meal in peace with my husband."
He tried to cheer her from this dark revelation.
"Perhaps, on the way back to The Academy, we shall visit my world, wife. Deneva is still beautiful."
But she was quiet, and angry in her silence. Home, she slept with her arms around him, and he did not ask for her intimate company, right then. Saavik did not need a lover, then. She needed him to be the world she never had, and so he was.
THE CEREMONY
She was dressed as tradition dictated. But Saavik was nervous as a kitten about her appearance. Logic dictates that there are times a girl needs her father. Captain Kirk walked in, and smiled his broadest smile. He remembered all the times, from teaching her about Vulcan to drying her tears when Spock failed to show for any number of events. Saavik Brianna Kirk looked over at the man who had sacrificed countless leaves to be with her, all because he wanted to be with her. Her next words reflected no logic, and much emotion.
"I Love You, Daddy."
Despite himself, Jim sang a quick few words.
"Someday, when I'm feeling blue, All I'll have to do is think about you--Just The Way You Look Tonight."
The embracing arms of the older man felt as safe to the twenty-one year-old bride as they did to the seven-year old wild thing, rejected by that person she loved best. She looked at him.
"That I am married to one so very much like you--is no accident."
-----------------------------------------
To her eye, he was perfect. But the son of her heart wanted to look above perfect before his new bride.
"How--do I look?"
Nyota smiled.
"Like a man about to get married."
Peter Claudius Kirk stared at the woman who had shown him the shelter of her heart, when his was gone. The mother who had not asked for his chores, only his love--which he was happy to give.
"Mommy--I Love You."
Where her next words came from, she couldn't say.
"Hushabye, Hushabye--Oh, My Darling, Don't You Cry--Guardian Angels Up Above--Take Care Of The One I Love."
Finally, they emerged, and the solemn ceremony began.
Sarek spoke.
"I strike this metal once, and offer upon this blessed union the recognition of my home and place."
Kirk spoke.
"I strike this metal once, to show that ties of adoption or blood give way to a greater tie. The son my brother had now marries the daughter another brother helped rescue. There are my children, both."
Together, the newlybonds went to strike the gong-like sheet a third time.
But a voice stopped them from completing the ceremony. A very familiar voice, indeed.
"Kalifee!!! I offer challenge to this Bond, which I declare unlawful."
Saavik felt the great pain again, and Peter with her. For the challenger was none other than Spock himself.
The dead silence that followed was broken by Sarek. He stared at Spock, using his remaining self-control as he did.
"My son---did you announce yourself, upon entering my home?"
Spock shook his head at the seeming non sequitur.
"No, Father. I did not."
Sarek shrugged.
"Then how can you offer challenge to this bond, at this time? Your presence here is unlawful, if anything is. Remain silent for now, and speak your words later."Spock was stunned by this, and perhaps a bit upset.
"Father, I am not a child. I am Saavik's legal representative on Vulcan. As such, I am here to rescue her and Peter Kirk from this rash choice they have made. Since Kruge forced this choice on them, by means of his terrorist actions, I have almost persuaded T'Pau to drop potential charges of sexual assault."
Saavik spoke, indignant but firmly in control.
"Peter--did nothing of the sort. Ours was a mutual choice, freely made."
Spock seemed nonplussed by her anger. Inside, he was in agony. That agony guided his seemingly calm hand.
"Saavikkam--those charges were to be pressed against you. Peter is only 18, after all. Moreover, neither of you are of age."
Peter was fighting back the urge to tear Spock apart, something he was fully capable of doing, with only a thought.
"By what right do you do this, Spock? How dare you come here, on the day of our bond's formalizing, insult my wife, ignore our father's authority, and disrupt the hard work of our mother? More, you have not even explained yourself to your own Thy'la, who is my Uncle."
Spock felt the words as the broadside they were meant to be. My Wife, not Your Daughter or Ward. Our Father. Our Mother. My Uncle. Translation : I've replaced you, in all their hearts. Seizing the ringer, Peter went for the metal sheet, to ring it a third time. Spock blocked this, and Peter smiled, repeating Spock's earlier phrase.
"Kalifee!"
But as the Rock's hand pulled back to strike Spock, it was caught. Jim held his hand, and glared.
"That's enough, cadet. Stand down."
Jim swore that Peter's eyes took on a reptilian tinge. But he did as he was ordered.
"Cadet Kirk standing down, sir."
Amanda gulped as a blue spark faded, briefly visible on both Saavik and Peter's spines, through their clothes. She knew something had just been narrowly avoided. She was just as glad to avoid finding out what. Saavik's own abilities were awakening, that much was clear. Then, Kirk himself rang the gong-sheet a third time. He turned to the newlyweds.
"Go to your room. That is a direct order, Cadets Kirk. Disobey and I'll put you in the brig we kept Kruge in."
He then smiled at the fuming pair.
"Have a happy honeymoon."
Peter nodded.
"If its all the same to you sir, we'd just as soon sleep."
Saavik agreed.
"Things got--silly--during the heights of our bonding, Uncle."
Kirk tweaked her nose.
"No details, please. I'm father to both of you, remember?"
They withdrew, but not before Saavik looked at and spoke to Spock.
"What we have has endured absurdity, frigidity, conspiracy, bigotry, avoidance, anger, and abomination. It will endure you, Mister Ambassador. For we love one another."
"Saavikkam--what I do, I do first and foremost for you. Neither of you are mature enough for marriage."
Saavik closed the door, and gave voice to none of the colorful aphorisms that sprang to mind.
Captain Kirk looked hard at the best friend he would ever have. He realized that his friend was in some kind of pain, as he never had realized this before.
"Spock--let's talk."
"Jim, we may talk. But on this subject, there is nothing to discuss."
Kirk opened the patio door, and pointed.
"Then we'll make something up."
They lay together, clothed, but more together than they had ever been before.
"Peter? Do you realize that, while we lie here, our lives are being decided for us?"
"I know. Feels a little too familiar, doesn't it? What kind of authority does Spock have over you?"
"He is my legal representative. Uncle Jim asked this of him, claiming not to understand Vulcan's legal system. I think, though, he did it in hopes of encouraging Spock to be closer to me. It did not have that effect."
Knocking lightly, Captain Kirk walked in. He was being supported by Uhura. His fluster told all they needed to know about his conversation with Spock. He smiled at them, though this seemed merely a sincere and strained effort, rather than a willing smile of triumph.
"Kids--do the words, Until I Was Blue In The Face, have any meaning for you?"
Peter Kirk took his wife's hand.
"No, Uncle Jim. Because no words can change what we are. No matter who says them, or why."
Saavik squeezed his hand in response.
"We have crossed The Rubicon. Papers and legalities cannot alter that fact, though I am sure that's what they will try to do."
They held hands, and closed their eyes, as the dream come true began.
-----------------------------
TIME AND PLACE UNKNOWN
They were holding hands as the lightning bolts rained down around them. Her eyes a fierce reflection of something fiercer still, Saavik shouted out at The Ancient Destroyer, whose heads bobbed and weaved and shrieked in a wild dance. The Last Battle had come round at last. "Hear Me, You Ghidorah! The Reign Of The False King Is Over! The Line We Draw Is The Outline Of Your Grave!"
Peter gathered up every last ounce of their unbelievable power. It was, as they say, now or never. He joined his wife in shouting down the monster.
"We Are The Rock, And Against Us Even You Are Mortal! Mark This Well, For Today Ghidorah Dies!"
The Last Battle took more twists and turns than any had ever thought possible. Of it may only be said this : When the moment came, even Ghidorah gasped at the unleashed power contained within this simple thing, this Blessed Union.
But that is a concern for another day.
THE END