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Language:
English
Series:
Part 50 of Positronic Rivalry
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Published:
2024-03-10
Words:
1,339
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
16
Kudos:
24
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2
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A Near Future

Summary:

Fighting a terminal illness and desperate to keep the secret from your husbands while you search for a cure, you quickly learn that what's done in the dark will be brought to the light.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

The host cells jerked and shook beneath the intruders that were clamped onto them so tightly they almost looked like a single mutated cell. Were you witnessing your cells’ heroic effort to shake off the parasitic invaders, or was it wishful thinking, the frantic movements merely death spasms resulting from the parasitic cells draining them of their vital force?

You watched the tragedy play out on your PADD, the most recent sample of blood you had collected from yourself that morning. The whole endeavor had forced you into a minor expertise in microbiology, as there was no one else you could turn to for help.

Everything was done in the quiet cloister of your quarters, as you didn’t want spying eyes in your lab or sickbay. The research you performed on yourself was clandestine and painfully solitary. Never before had you felt so disconnected from the world and all you loved within it. No one could know that you worked in secret to find a cure for the infection ravaging your body at the cellular level, an infection that would kill you within years and cripple you long before that.

Beverly was keeping your secret for now, but she couldn’t forever. Eventually, she would have to report your infection on the record, and your husbands would be the next to know that your already fragile organic body was failing at an alarming speed.

So you worked with a manic focus you had never come close to before. Even when you pretended to be asleep you were turning the problem around and around in your head until exhaustion finally pulled you down to dream.

The toll the infection and exhaustion took on your body was spectacular.

For now, you were safe. Lore was working in the new shuttlebay throughout beta shift, and Data was still unknown fathoms away on a mission, leaving you to your work on what should have been your day off.

You inhaled deeply and closed your dry, burning eyes, then rose and walked to the azure vase marbled with gold on the table beneath the window, removing a small amber bottle hidden inside it. The violet liquid was shockingly bitter, but you choked down a generous sip.

Languentis remedium, colloquially known as ‘surge’. Illegal to own in the Federation, the concoction could still be found through illicit channels, and the Enterprise’s many stops throughout the galaxy kept you well-stocked.

The substance was dangerous, and only fools and addicts used it. It lit up the mitochondria like a supernova, increasing energy and cognitive power. That was also the downside. Cell turnover increased dramatically, speeding up cell death while each new iteration was degraded in the process. Taken frequently, it would shave decades off your life.

But you didn’t have decades to spare, and it might be the only advantage you had while your life’s clock ticked loudly behind you. You returned the bottle to its hiding place and sat once more in front of your work, prepared to spend the afternoon working tirelessly. 

The door hissed open unexpectedly, and Lore walked through the threshold pushing an unexpected but very welcome sight in front of him. “Looked what the cat dragged in.”

Data’s brows furrowed. “Lore, Spot is not currently present.”

Lore sighed dramatically and shook his head. “Do you know that you’re not attractive enough to be this dense? I am, but thankfully I was blessed with both brains and beauty.”

Your blood was electric from the slow surge of the languentis and was amplified all at once at seeing both your husbands in the same place at the same time, a rare sight those days.

Quickly closing out your research in its fingerprint-protected PADD, you hurried over to Data and practically threw yourself against him, excited and comforted when you felt his long, powerful arms wrapping around you to hold you close. You buried your face against his neck and inhaled the faint and familiar scent of him.

“I’m so happy to see you.” You kissed every centimeter of his precious face, though it still wasn’t enough to satisfy your need to touch him, to feel him close to you once more.

A small smile pulled up the corners of his mouth as he let you plant a torrent of kisses on him. “I have missed you.”

“Your robes arrived while you were gone.” You gave him a final kiss on the tip of his nose.

Data’s expression lit with something close to excitement, or as close as he could get. “I am eager to see the result of Nu’Val’s work. But there is something I am even more eager to show you first.”

Data sat at the table and motioned for you to join him. Taking a holo-emitter from the pocket of his uniform pants, he sat it in front of you and activated the small device. A bright green schematic emerged, rotating slowly, and it took a moment before you realized you were looking at a map of Vulcan.

Data’s fingers spread outward to zoom in on one point of the map, Vulcana Regar, the beating metropolitan heart of Vulcan. “The Vulcans are in the beginning stages of constructing a feat of botanical bioengineering.” A large area of the map lit up in red, just over 12 kilometers, from the south of the Temples of Syrinx toward Xial. “They intend for it to be the largest complex of interconnected ecosystems and botanical research in the Federation, if not the galaxy.”

“Wow…” You leaned forward to look at the stretch of space, briefly letting your imagination run wild with the possibilities it presented. The endeavor was impressive, so much so that the spark of excitement at the mere thought of it drowned out even the languentis. “That’s ambitious, to say the least.”

“Indeed.” Data nodded his agreement. “Which is why they have asked for Starfleet’s permission to commission your help to design it.”

An electric thrill shot through your bloodways as you met his earnest yellow gaze. “My help?”

“Yes. I am sorry to report that I was not given much information to bring back, but what I do know is that this is intended to be a project of grand scale and scope. There are to be kilometers of numerous domes with numerous climates to house flora and even some fauna from throughout the galaxy. It is a project of knowledge and preservation, and as with all things Vulcan, it is to be both an art and a science. In order to ensure that all of this is designed and constructed to exacting ambition and standards, they are requesting the expertise of the person who is arguably the best botanist in the Federation— you. They are not asking for inclusivity, only that you be allowed frequent visits to consult on the design and oversee the construction. If you wish to participate, that is. Ambassador T’Lek and the board overseeing the project would like to meet with you when the Enterprise docks at Vulcan next week.”

Memories of Vulcan rose up and flooded you with sparks of both peace and passion: walking the art markets of T’Paal, the warmth of sunset on the ShiKahr river, and your wedding, the happiest day of your life. The happiness of those memories excited your cells in a way the drug never could. Lal’s work with the Vulcans on cybernetics research kept you from seeing her more than once every few months. This new project meant you would have more opportunities to spend time with her.

For weeks, the constant fight for survival had eclipsed the joy of living, every moment swallowed by the task of keeping yourself alive until it seemed you had forgotten how to live at all. You wanted that happiness back, and the trip to Vulcan could be exactly what you needed, body and soul. You looked forward to the future and the joy and memories that could be forged there.

For the first time in a long time, the future couldn’t come soon enough.

Notes:

Back to Vulcan!

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