Timed in Vulcan Hours
Aug. 24th, 2009 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mirroredcommandThe last few days had been interesting, to say the least. Beyond the studying that occupied much of his time, it had been very quiet in the cells below. Just the chatter of the guards between them, picking up the simple happenings on the ship - such as where they were (Risa, which evidently was not all that different from his universe in the sense of being a pleasure stop but much different in its makeup), that most of the crew was off the ship, that there were some new people on board but the guard who spoke it had not gotten a good look at them, and that they would be leaving Risa's orbit within the next day.
But what had made the last few days was the curious knowledge that there was indeed what Pike had taken to mentally calling 'a rider' on the damaged bond between himself and Spock. He had noticed the thin golden thread before, but had not fully explored it.
The knowledge of just what it was and how strong it was came in the middle of the night.
Nights were difficult, but Pike showed no signs of the strain they caused. He was used to sleeping what were called 'Vulcan hours' by his crew - he had been trained since the academy to exist on only a few hours of sleep a night, the same as the Vulcans they had fought against would. It had come even more into play with his first officer, when they had finally started sharing quarters. Spock would trust him to watch over them when he slept, and Pike trusted Spock to watch over him while he took his turn.
It had worked for many years and saved them both from several assassins that thought either of them would be weak in their sleep, but now it was proving to be a weakness. Pike was finding it difficult to sleep deeply, and now a vague length of time since his capture, it was starting to show. Smudges of darkness beneath his eyes and a slowly coming restlessness.
Then, out of no where as he laid in his half-sleep state that rested the body but not the mind, he had started to feel it. Something that could have been described as a tingling through the length of his body, almost like standing in the sun for too long - warmth, tingling. It had taken nearly a half an hour of those feelings to finally delve farther into his mind and discover quite a surprise.
Like a poorly receiving vidscreen, images were flickering through the darkness where the bond sat. It kept changing frequencies, what Pike could have sworn were tastes and smells. If he concentrated, he could pick up on sounds as well.
It seemed there was an orgy going on.
It had not helped his restlessness or sleeplessness to sit there and watch what occurred, but surprisingly it gave him a few clues that he doubted anyone would want him to know:
It seemed the young captain, whose picture he had seen in the recent historical files on the padd, had a counterpart from another universe. A counterpart that, from the shared information passing from the Vulcan, the Spock he had let into his mind was bonded to. Yet all four people involved into the sexual escapades were bonded together, that much was obvious.
Fascinating, as Spock would have said. A weakness and a strength for the young captain.
Of course, laying in the brig with a severe lack of privacy did not improve Pike's mood at all, yet he watched what was flickering in the back of his mind because it was something in all of the silence. When it finally ended, a good deal of time after it was all finished, Pike decided to explore what he had been foolish to ignore before.
He slid along the golden thread, but it was like balancing along a tightrope. Several times he 'fell', his concentration breaking, but he had nothing but time and a surprising patience. He kept on trying, following the thread, walking its perilous length, until he found its other end as, from the feelings he was getting, Spock slept.
As delicate as a spider's tread, Pike peered inquisitively over the network of threads and ropes that extended out of Spock's mind. Two strong, thick ropes that Pike recognized easily as being true bonds, like his own with his Spock. One of those headed off into the darkness, and he did not dare for the moment to follow it. The other was close... a guess would be the other Kirk, the one from Spock's own universe, if their ages and words had been any guess.
The others were even more interesting.
Two not-thick not-thin golden lines connected to the other two in the room, confirming his thoughts. Spock was bonded not only to two others, but... it seemed two others in a lesser form. Pike had never heard of such a thing before, but then again he was not Vulcan and it was not a subject often brought up in all of his years.
Then, if all of that was not surprise enough... something that Pike could have best described as a net seemed to flare out into the darkness, cast out uniformly. It, too, was golden but... it shimmered with sparkles of blue and white, almost like stars. And... it 'tasted' like Spock himself when he reached out and 'touched' it, causing a brief shimmer.
What did it all mean? There were no immediate answers, but what surprised Pike was to realize there were no barriers in that moment. So, he took his chance. Spock... The sonar-like echo trembled across their thread-thin connection and across the net, thinking of possibilities.
Pike opened his eyes in the cell he rested in and stared up at the ceiling. Now, as always, he would lie in wait. He had his ideas, his plans, in mind. He could wait, always could wait.
But what had made the last few days was the curious knowledge that there was indeed what Pike had taken to mentally calling 'a rider' on the damaged bond between himself and Spock. He had noticed the thin golden thread before, but had not fully explored it.
The knowledge of just what it was and how strong it was came in the middle of the night.
Nights were difficult, but Pike showed no signs of the strain they caused. He was used to sleeping what were called 'Vulcan hours' by his crew - he had been trained since the academy to exist on only a few hours of sleep a night, the same as the Vulcans they had fought against would. It had come even more into play with his first officer, when they had finally started sharing quarters. Spock would trust him to watch over them when he slept, and Pike trusted Spock to watch over him while he took his turn.
It had worked for many years and saved them both from several assassins that thought either of them would be weak in their sleep, but now it was proving to be a weakness. Pike was finding it difficult to sleep deeply, and now a vague length of time since his capture, it was starting to show. Smudges of darkness beneath his eyes and a slowly coming restlessness.
Then, out of no where as he laid in his half-sleep state that rested the body but not the mind, he had started to feel it. Something that could have been described as a tingling through the length of his body, almost like standing in the sun for too long - warmth, tingling. It had taken nearly a half an hour of those feelings to finally delve farther into his mind and discover quite a surprise.
Like a poorly receiving vidscreen, images were flickering through the darkness where the bond sat. It kept changing frequencies, what Pike could have sworn were tastes and smells. If he concentrated, he could pick up on sounds as well.
It seemed there was an orgy going on.
It had not helped his restlessness or sleeplessness to sit there and watch what occurred, but surprisingly it gave him a few clues that he doubted anyone would want him to know:
It seemed the young captain, whose picture he had seen in the recent historical files on the padd, had a counterpart from another universe. A counterpart that, from the shared information passing from the Vulcan, the Spock he had let into his mind was bonded to. Yet all four people involved into the sexual escapades were bonded together, that much was obvious.
Fascinating, as Spock would have said. A weakness and a strength for the young captain.
Of course, laying in the brig with a severe lack of privacy did not improve Pike's mood at all, yet he watched what was flickering in the back of his mind because it was something in all of the silence. When it finally ended, a good deal of time after it was all finished, Pike decided to explore what he had been foolish to ignore before.
He slid along the golden thread, but it was like balancing along a tightrope. Several times he 'fell', his concentration breaking, but he had nothing but time and a surprising patience. He kept on trying, following the thread, walking its perilous length, until he found its other end as, from the feelings he was getting, Spock slept.
As delicate as a spider's tread, Pike peered inquisitively over the network of threads and ropes that extended out of Spock's mind. Two strong, thick ropes that Pike recognized easily as being true bonds, like his own with his Spock. One of those headed off into the darkness, and he did not dare for the moment to follow it. The other was close... a guess would be the other Kirk, the one from Spock's own universe, if their ages and words had been any guess.
The others were even more interesting.
Two not-thick not-thin golden lines connected to the other two in the room, confirming his thoughts. Spock was bonded not only to two others, but... it seemed two others in a lesser form. Pike had never heard of such a thing before, but then again he was not Vulcan and it was not a subject often brought up in all of his years.
Then, if all of that was not surprise enough... something that Pike could have best described as a net seemed to flare out into the darkness, cast out uniformly. It, too, was golden but... it shimmered with sparkles of blue and white, almost like stars. And... it 'tasted' like Spock himself when he reached out and 'touched' it, causing a brief shimmer.
What did it all mean? There were no immediate answers, but what surprised Pike was to realize there were no barriers in that moment. So, he took his chance. Spock... The sonar-like echo trembled across their thread-thin connection and across the net, thinking of possibilities.
Pike opened his eyes in the cell he rested in and stared up at the ceiling. Now, as always, he would lie in wait. He had his ideas, his plans, in mind. He could wait, always could wait.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 02:56 pm (UTC)I guess your Pike would not yet know much about mirror!Kirk, though. Anyway it's something to think about. Let me know if you want me.]]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 03:00 pm (UTC)In my little 'fanon' about mirror!Pike, mirror!Kirk is his tactical officer and Pike knows that Kirk is gunning for his position, and believes firmly that Kirk was the one who sent him to this universe in the first place. But, of course, it is nu!Kirk that has that position, not your Kirk.]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 03:07 pm (UTC)Oh well. This makes TOS!Kirk sort of irrelevant, which is fine. I guess I hadn't considered that there might be two mirror universes, but I guess it makes sense. My fanon tends to assume the aesthetic/technological discrepancies between reboot and TOS are non-diegetic, so I can retain sanity.]]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 03:15 pm (UTC)The timelines are not precisely equal. There is a five year difference between where Pike has come from and where he is now; it is the year 2263 in his universe, and Spock is 31 years old.
There are, I believe, two mirror verses, one for each (TOS! and nu!). Due to the mirror!verses faster gains in technology then the original verse it matches (comparing Mirror, Mirror/In a Mirror Darkly versus their respective counterpart universes), things have happened sooner then they did in the nu!Verse.
But TOS!Kirk is not irrelevant, because he is bonded to Spock. I attempted to allude to that, perhaps too subtly, that Pike recognizes that fact and knows he must tread lightly or fear having one of Spock's bond-mates interfere. ]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 03:21 pm (UTC)But it makes some sense for nuKirk to be your mirror version, since he's the captain here, and my!Kirk has no actual position and is only here to have sex.]]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:25 pm (UTC)I also play the Buick, but I think there is a limited number of things Pike could say to a car.]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:26 pm (UTC)Pike would look at the Buick and dismiss it quickly enough, I have a feeling.]
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 04:29 pm (UTC)