The Aftermath

[logical_hobgoblin]

Spock is not pleased.

Pike is not pleased.

There might not be yelling, but the silence is deafening.

Spock has been decontaminated and taken out of the suit, but he's still locked behind an airtight barrier to ensure he's not still able to infect anyone else with whatever it is he came into contact with on the planet. So far, he's not exhibiting any symptoms, but it's unknown whether that's due to humanoid biology, or Vulcanoid biology, or because the virus is ineffectual in an oxygen atmosphere.

Despite all the people poking and prodding at him, he's still working away silently on his PADD, filling out reports. He might as well make use of his time.

Comments

[theoriginalcaptain]

Following his own inspection, Pike has at least gotten a new uniform on. Better than both the evo-suit and nothing at all. He's in his own iso-chamber, awaiting some test results, but he isn't idle. He has some business on the bridge to attend to, making sure that the original negotiations were still intact and that their manufactured emergency had been "taken care of."

His conference with Number One is brief but productive, and she's handling things just fine on her end. Once he's done with that, he has very little else to do but sit and observe Spock in the neighboring chamber.

[logical_hobgoblin]

He understands that the medical staff must be thorough in their testing when dealing with an unknown pathogen, although these tests do seem to be getting more and more invasive. What started off as passive scans has since been upgraded to blood samples and hands-on contact.

The Vulcan is looking distinctly more uncomfortable by the second, and it doesn't help that he can feel Pike's eyes on him, as illogical as such a sensation might be. It is likely that he will be reprimanded once he has been cleared, and he cannot say he is looking forward to it.

Dread is not something he's used to experiencing.

[theoriginalcaptain]

Spock is right to be dreading getting out of sickbay. Pike is already putting together his speech in his head while he sits there, but at least he'll spare the Vulcan the humiliation of being reprimanded in front of everyone while they're in sickbay.

Pike's tests have come back clear; he wasn't exposed to enough of the virus for it to be of major concern, it was the effects of being outside the evo-suit in that atmosphere that were the most worrying. But he's a tough old broad, it's going to take more than a thin atmosphere to knock him out.

As he's discharged, he stops in front of Spock's iso-chamber to address him. "You will report to my ready room immediately after you are released, cadet."

He doesn't even wait for a reply before he's left to go speak with Boyce in his office.

[logical_hobgoblin]

"Yes, Captain," is the immediate reply, without a tinge of any of the anxiety he's trying to suppress.

8 tests and an hour later, Spock is finally given the all-clear and a round of antibiotics, just in case. That done, he heads to Pike's ready room, as instructed, PADD clasped behind his back and pride steeled for the beating it's undoubtedly about to take.

"Reporting as requested, sir."

[theoriginalcaptain]

Pike doesn't look up right away when the door swishes open, just gives Spock a simple "sit" direction while he keeps scanning the com screen in front of him. He's long mastered the art of intimidation, especially on lowly cadets, but e's a bit interested to see how effective any of these are on a Vulcan. Human failings, he knows intimately. Vulcans are a whole different matter, though.

Spock will have to sit there until Pike thinks he's squirmed enough.

"Explain to me your actions on the shuttle."

[logical_hobgoblin]

That evening, Spock submits his official report to Starfleet and copies it to Pike for the captain's records. It is a precise recounting of the events that transpired, including all relevant timestamps, dialogues, and documentation.

He even reports that he has been reprimanded for his error in judgement without sounding the least bit spiteful.

[theoriginalcaptain]

Oh, Spock. Pike will add a little note of his own to that report to clarify the reprimand, but other than that, it's just amusing how thorough his reports are.

The next morning, Spock will have a message from the captain asking if he's free for dinner that evening.

[logical_hobgoblin]

Spock replies in the affirmative. Of course he will set aside time for dinner with the captain. Undoubtedly, there is work to be discussed, given the mission they just completed.

So, Spock promptly shows up outside Pike's quarters at 1800 and sounds the chime.

[theoriginalcaptain]

"Enter."

Pike's quarters are spartan, at best. There's very little that's personal, aside from a picture from on his desk of himself, Robert and Sarah April, and Boyce seated at a table and smiling. There's also a line of small crystals - memory crystals - on a shelf, but they're all switched off at the moment, their memories locked safely inside. That's really the only way to tell this is even his cabin.

The captain himself is sitting as his desk but rises as soon as Spock enters in greeting.

[logical_hobgoblin]

Spock tries not to look around. He has only been here once before, and it still strikes him how bare the room seems. It is like his own, devoid of personal belonging. It doesn't seem particularly usually for a human.

"Captain," Spock greets, just as formal as he's always been, "It is 1800. I have arrived for our dinner arrangement."

[logical_hobgoblin]

He shakes his head minutely. "They will see my failure to accept their invitation as a fault of my human heritage. They will not accept that a Vulcan turned away from their ways."

Certainly, he may identify himself as Vulcan but other Vulcans do not see him that way. To them, he is human. To humans, he is indistinguishable from other Vulcans. This is why he does not belong in either society.

[theoriginalcaptain]

"Are they really so set against other species?" Yes, he's experienced the close-mindedness of Vulcans firsthand, but he had written it off as stress or something less... insulting. "I never took them for a friendly lot, but you'd expect such an advanced civilization to perhaps be a little more accepting."

[logical_hobgoblin]

"We believe in infinite diversity in infinite combinations, but I do not deny that we tend to regard deviation from what is strictly logical as somewhat... shameful. This is accepted in other species as part of their culture, and therefore something to be tolerated, but because I choose to live as a Vulcan, the standards to which I must adhere are no different from any other Vulcan."

So, in essence, he is treated as a Vulcan when it is convenient, and treated as half-human when it is not.

[theoriginalcaptain]

"And yet they still prefer to write you off as human." Pike's familiar with cognitive dissonance, willingly admits that he himself falls victim to it, but he didn't really expect it in Vulcans.

[logical_hobgoblin]

"They do so when they decide that I have behaved according to my human heritage. As it is highly unlikely a pure-blooded Vulcan would have acted in such a manner, it is understandable. However, I do not believe a pure-blooded Vulcan would have been considered at a 'disadvantage', either." He still bristles at that just the tiniest bit. His mother is not a disadvantage.

[logical_hobgoblin]

Spock thinks it is unlikely that he will "enjoy" it, but he doesn't voice that opinion. He takes the glass with a polite incline of his head.

He looks at it for a moment. "There is an olive in this beverage," he observes. Why is there food in it?

[theoriginalcaptain]

"There is." As Pike pulls the olive out of his own and pops it in his mouth. "It's part of the recipe, though no one can really figure out why. Some people prefer no olives, some prefer two,
There is, however, a fascinating little story about a gold miner ordering a drink at the Occidental Hotel in the 1860s, but it's completely made up."

Mostly because the Occidental didn't exist then, they weren't mining gold then, and that drink is also known as the Martinez, which could theoretically have turned into Martini, but it's still nothing more than an urban myth.

[logical_hobgoblin]

Spock observes the eating of the olive, and then he looks at his own. He pulls the pick out of the glass and ensures the olive has dripped dry before he carefully puts it into his mouth and eats it. As alcohol tends to be bitter, it is a taste Spock can pick up fairly well. It is not entirely unpleasant in combination with the olive.

However, he is now uncertain what to do with the pick.

"What makes the story fascinating?"

[theoriginalcaptain]

"Absolutely nothing about it is true, or could even remotely be true, but it managed to stick around for three centuries. Even made it into a few history books."

Yes, of course Pike's read history books on the origin of martinis.

[logical_hobgoblin]

Spock's brows furrow together minutely. "It is much like human 'fairy tales', then." Stories that, when regarded with a critical eye, could be debunked immediately, and yet had persisted over a respectable length of time.

He looks down at the martini and takes a small sip of it. He does not know if Pike drinks it for the taste.

[logical_hobgoblin]

"I currently have no intention of drinking your blood should you happen to die on an away mission," he replies levelly, as if this is now an actual concern.

[theoriginalcaptain]

"Only currently? So this could change in the future?"

It's a joke, Spock.

[logical_hobgoblin]

"Should we be in a similar circumstance, where there was no water available aside from what was contained in your blood, then perhaps it would be logical to drink it. Your urine would likely be more effective, though." How he's keeping a straight face, no one knows. Maybe he's being slightly vindictive in telling him this?

But Vulcans don't feel vindictive. No, never.

[theoriginalcaptain]

Inside, he's cracking up at this, but if Spock isn't so much as grinning, Pike will only return with a small smirk. "Of course. A far more sound choice. Though both of us being from desert climates will hopefully give us a little more time before we resort to such measures."

[logical_hobgoblin]

"I believe humans have the tendency to vomit up blood when they drink too much of it. You may not be able to use such measures at all, save for, perhaps, recycling urine." Perhaps one day it will be prudent to inform Pike that he should not drink Vulcan urine.